Guardian Maelstrom
by Rocker1600
Summary: Originally owned by HurricaneGohan94. Two years into his training with Jiraiya, Naruto convinces the Sannin to go on a journey to see the world beyond the Shinobi Nations. What the two shinobi don't know, however, is that this trip will inadvertently change the future of two worlds as well as the lives of a certain group of teenagers from Karakura Town. NO PAIRINGS IN THIS STORY!
1. Note to Readers

**PLEASE READ THIS! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!**

**Note to ALL Readers:**

**Hello, everybody! This is Rocker1600 and, as you should already know, I am taking over the writing of this story for HurricaneGohan94. While I will try to keep as much of the original content of the story intact as I possibly can there WILL be some very MAJOR changes from HurricaneGohan94's original story. And before you try to question this all of these changes been approved by HurricaneGohan94 himself and he will have some involvement in this story from time-to-time. **

**To avoid surprising those readers who've already read the original "Guardian Maelstrom" here's a list of the MOST important things you should know that will change from the original:**

**1\. Unlike the original fic there will be NO PAIRINGS WHATSOEVER in this fic. The original fanfic had two pairings, Naru/Hime and Ichi/Ruki, both of which I've removed; and DON'T ask me to add a pairing, REGARDLESS of what it might be, because the answer will be a big fat NO! Any and all scenes already in the story that are pairing moments have either been removed, replaced, or reworked so that the pairing aspects have been cut out. **

**I apologize for those who loved those pairings but this is how I do things. And for those who want to give up on the story for this at least give this version a chance before you stop reading it just because of my no pairing stance.**

**2\. As per the request of HurricanGohan94 himself, I have and will be making some changes to Naruto's zanpakuto, formerly known as Akuma no Kaze. The appearance and abilities of Naruto's shikai will remain the same but the name of the zanpakuto and the appearance of the zanpakuto spirit have been changed, albeit to a relatively minor degree. In addition Naruto's** eventual bankai has also been changed.****

****As for the fully original zanpakuto, Akuma no Kaze, HurricaneGohan94 will be using the character in a future fanfic of his so please keep that in mind.****

****3\. While the original "Guardian Maelstrom" was going to be a trilogy of fanfics I've decided to change this around. The first and second fic of that trilogy will be merged into one fic, with the first part being shortened, and the third fic will be dropped entirely.****

****4\. The events of chapter 12, particularly towards the end, have been greatly altered to both fit the changes in the plot of the story I had in mind and to fix a certain moment for a certain blonde ninja that was COMPLETELY OOC for him.****

****5\. I've added Sage Mode to the list of abilities Naruto has at the start of the story, and it is at the same level it was when Naruto first used it in the battle against Pain. That said he won't be using it anywhere in the first 12 chapters of this fic but it will be mentioned. So please keep an eye on that. ****

**6\. While my part of the story won't start until chapter 13, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you read the first 12 chapters so that you know what to expect for this version of "Guardian Maelstrom****"****.**

**One last thing: HurricaneGohan94 is now working on a new trilogy of crossover fanfics, titled "Parallel Uzumaki," to replace the "Guardian Maelstrom" series. He's already posted the first two chapters of the first fic, "**Parallel Uzumaki: Soul Awakening," so check it out as soon as you can!****

**Until then, however, I hope you enjoy this fanfic!**

**Regards,**

**Rocker1600**


	2. 1 Journey to New World

Opening Song: "Disillusion 2010" by Sachi Tainaka (Fate/stay night)

Ending Song: "Hanabi" by Ikimono-Gakari

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kyuubi (Kurama)/attack names**

"_This" thinking_

**Chapter 1:**

In an open field, grassy field in the small land of Wave Country lies a young man of 16, staring at the sky. He had bright blonde hair, cerulean, blue eyes, tan skin, and very distinct whisker marks on both his cheeks.

The young man was Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of Konohagakure and he had grown in the two years since the start of his three-year training trip with his master, Jiraiya, The Toad Sannin or as Naruto called him, Ero-Sennin. After his attempt to retrieve his best friend and teammate, Uchiha Sasuke, who had abandoned his old home and friends in favor of power and left to Otogakure under the apprenticeship of Orochimaru, The Snake Sannin, Naruto had agreed to be Jiraiya's apprentice an order to bring his friend back one day but, that wasn't the only reason. An organization known as the Akatsuki were out to capture him for he was the Jinchuuriki of the strongest of the Bijuu, The Kyuubi no Kitsune. Being one of the nine and most powerful of the Bijuu, the Kyuubi was the heart of the Akatsuki's ambition, whatever that could've been. So Naruto trained hard for the last three years, growing stronger and smarter but, never losing his goofy nature and happy demeanor.

His training had exceeded all of Jiraiya's expectations as Naruto had learned many new wind jutsus after finding out that he had an affinity for said element as well as water style jutsus to better compliment his arsenal; he also created a few Rasengan variants as time went on. Arguably one of the best additions to Naruto's skillsets, however, was his learning Sage Mode, a powerful mode though he only used this for a last resort due to some of the flaws that come with using Sage Mode.

Though Naruto had a relatively happy time with his training, during his second year, Jiraiya had confessed to Naruto about him being his Godfather and he also explained to Naruto about his parents, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina, the Hot Red-blooded Habanero and former Jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi. This news, primarily the revelation that Jiraiya was Naruto's godfather, caused a brief three month fallout between the two where Naruto refused to even look at his sensei but, after a long overdue apology (Along with an ungodly number of bowls of ramen one night) Naruto finally forgave Jiraiya. In addition, after hearing of his father and his accomplishments, Naruto decided to honor him in his own way (not including learning his prized jutsu) so Naruto decided on a change in wardrobe that was more like that of his father's. He now wore white shinobi pants, a black jacket, completely zipped, black shinobi sandals, and a orange cloak similar to his father's only it was orange with black flames with a black Uzumaki symbol on the back to honor his mother and clan. He also changed the cloth to his headband from a short blue to a long black with the tassels reaching the top of his back.

Naruto was currently waiting for his sensei to show up thinking back to the conversation and the reason of why he was in Wave in the first place.

_Flashback_

"Wait, you want to what? Run that by me again, gaki I don't I heard you right." Jiraiya said as he was eating his dinner at some local diner he and Naruto stopped in while on the road

"You heard right, Ero-Sennin, I'm bored with all this traveling, we've been around the Elemental Nations for the last three years now. I want to see the world beyond the borders, to see if there are other ninja out there or maybe a new type of warrior we've never seen before. I want to see it all." Naruto exclaimed with a huge foxy grin on his face., Jiraiya sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, seriously this kid was so complicated.

"Naruto, what you're asking could either be beneficial or a complete waste of time. No one knows if there is anything beyond the borders. In fact, there is no known record of any shinobi even trying such a feet. Honestly, I think we should just head back to Konoha as scheduled." Jiraiya explained.

"But if there is a world beyond the borders it could be a big help to my training." Naruto began

"Or a complete waste of time." Jiraiya countered, Naruto looked down with a frown on his face, thinking of a way for his kyofu to change his mind. Then it came to him, how could he be so stupid? Naruto gave Jiraiya a foxy grin and leaned over the table.

"But, Ero-Sennin what about your research, you could probably find foreign girls who could teach you something new." Naruto smirked when he saw Jiraiya's perverted grin.

"What are we waiting for, gaki? Come on, Wave Country has a port dock we could probably find someone willing to travel with us." Jiraiya stated jumping up and rushing out the door, leaving an irritated Naruto with the bill.

_End flashback_

Naruto sighed as he watched the sky waiting for his perverted sensei to come back with a ship captain. After another twenty minutes, Naruto heard someone approaching from behind.

"It's about time you got back." Naruto said irritably

"is that anyway to greet the guy who named our bridge after you?" Naruto blinked, that wasn't Jiraiya but, he certainly knew that voice. Naruto turned around to see a grinning Tazuna along with Jiraiya in the background.

"Tazuna! How've you been/ old man?" Naruto exclaimed as he shook the man's hand

"Pretty good thanks to you, gaki. You helped this country thrive again, you know." Tazuna stated as Naruto scratched the back of his bashfully.

"Aww, it was no problem really, just part of the job." Naruto replied "But what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well your sensei told me about your little adventure trip and I have a crew for you if you're interested." Tazuna explained as Naruto's eyes lit up

"That's awesome, we'll take the offer old man." Naruto stated, Tazuna nodded and brought the two shinobi to the giant whit ship with a full crew. After Naruto met the crew members, Jiraiya pulled him to the side.

"Naruto are you absolutely sure about this? We don't know where we'll end up if anywhere and if we do end up anywhere how long do you expect to hang around?" Jiraiya asked

"I'm sure about this, Ero-Sennin and if by the chance we do end up on land, I want to stay for a bit. It will give me enough time to learn everything I can about the area. And if Baa-chan complains just reverse summon yourself to Mount Myoboku and than the village and give a report." Naruto explained, he certainly planned this out well. Jiraiya sighed, Naruto certainly had his mother stubbornness. After a few more hours of preparation, the crew was ready to set sail. Naruto said his goodbyes to Tazuna and his family who had arrived to see him off. Naruto stood at the front of the ship, looking over the ocean with a grin, ready to set sail to a new world.

"Alright, time to set sail to a new adventure! LET'S GO." Naruto shouted as the ship set sail, heading due west.


	3. 2 Arrival

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kyuubi (Kurama)/attack names**

"_This" thinking_

**Chapter 2:**

It's been a month since Naruto and Jiraiya had set sail to on a new adventure and Jiraiya has now become completely sure that this whole trip had been a waste of time. Naruto, however, remained defiant about the situation and stood at the front of the ship every day hoping to see land soon. Our hero is currently doing just that as the sun rises over the horizon.

"So are you convinced that this has been a waste of time yet?" Jiraiya asked rhetorically as he walked towards his student.

"I already told you, you old perv we will find land soon, just you wait." Naruto retorted with his arms crossed over his chest, not even looking at Jiraiya but, instead at the ocean as the currents rippled from under them.

Jiraiya sighed and decided to just train and maybe catch some sleep. He knew there was little he could do to convince Naruto otherwise. After a couple hours of training, Jiraiya decided to catch up on some sleep while grumbling about how he should've been back in Konoha right now, not going out to sea on some hopeless adventure he was suckered into participating in. A two time war veteran who had fought countless enemy shinobi who were some of his most dangerous adversaries and he gets outsmarted by a teenage Genin. Yeah the Toad Sannin was certainly a unique ninja alright. As Jiraiya was about to lay his head down on his pillow, he was jolted out of bed by a high pitched voice that could only belong to one person.

"LAND HO!" Naruto's voice echoed through the ship, rattling the giant boat and scaring the hell out of the crew members. Jiraiya sat on the ground for a moment before Naruto's words clicked and he immediately ran outside to see a beach in the distance with many people walking around or splashing in the water. Jiraiya was speechless for a moment before he heard Naruto's approach.

"What I tell ya, Ero-Sennin? I knew we would find land." Naruto stated with a grin. Jiraiya sighed and gave his student a smirk.

"Alright, gaki, I guess you got me this time. Why don't we go explore this new territory?" Jiraiya stated, going back to his room and sealing his things in a scroll while Naruto did the same. After the crew noticed that there were no docks, Naruto and Jiraiya just decided to use water walking to get to shore, not noticing the awed and surprised looks of the people present. Jiraiya immediately went to go peep on…um research the female population of the area as well as trying to dig up any info he could about the location they were in. Naruto just roamed his eyes across the beach watching the kids playing, the seagulls flying, and watching the people whispering towards one another and pointing….at him. Naruto frowned and arched in eyebrow as everyone around him kept giving him a once over.

"_What's wrong with these people, you'd think they've never seen a ninja before." _Naruto thought as people continued to look at him. Naruto felt a pull on his cloak and looked down to see a small boy looking up at him.

"Hey, Mister how did you walk on water just now?" The boy asked, Naruto looked on with confusion at the question.

"What did you mean? I just channeled some chakra into my feet." Naruto answered as if it was no big deal.

"What's chakra?" The boy asked, but before Naruto could answer, a woman who Naruto assumed was the boy's mother took him away saying he shouldn't talk to strange people.

Naruto just assumed that either the kid hadn't gotten into a ninja academy or they had no ninja in this area though, he was betting on the latter since even the woman looked at him funny. But, even civilians had some knowledge of chakra and all of them knew about shinobi back home yet, everyone around him kept giving him odd looks.

"_Something doesn't feel right about this place." _Naruto thought and seeing Jiraiya's own confused look just further cemented that fact.

"Hey, Naruto why don't we explore this area a little more? Something about it seems…off." Jiraiya stated feeling a little uncomfortable with everyone's stares.

"Uh..yeah let's do that." Naruto replied as the two dashed out of the beach and into and area with tons of people walking around going about their day with huge buildings surrounding the area. The two shinobi had just happened to enter a city in this new world for the first time. The two ninja were awed by their surroundings, having never seen anything like it before.

"Whoa, this makes Konoha look like an ant farm, it's incredible." Naruto said while taking in the sights. While Naruto was looking all around the area, Jiraiya was paying attention to his surroundings and listening intently to the voices around him, frowning with what he heard.

"Who are those guys, street performers?" One man asked.

"Yeah, I mean look at their clothes, they look odd, well the blond one's is a little stylish. I wonder if those whiskers are real." One woman said, Jiraiya took some offense from the comment but, didn't comment on it, he decided analyzing the info he gathered would be the better option.

"_Okay, so far all I know is we're in a place called Karakura Town in some unknown continent called Japan. They do speak out language but, from what I can tell, no one here has any knowledge of chakra or the shinobi arts if their comments about our clothing is any indication. Their civilization seems to be much more advanced than ours, the buildings and machines being dead giveaways to that fact. And the people here are even weaker than normal civilians in our land, which no one has knowledge of. In other words, this Karakura Town seems pretty harmless." _Jiraiya mentally listed off everything he needed to know and nodded to himself.

He called Naruto over to him and warned him not to use any ninjutsu unless absolutely necessary. When asked why Jiraiya simply stated that the people in this land don't seem to have knowledge of ninja and they needed to keep a low profile. Naruto sighed and nodded, stating that he didn't like the idea but, he didn't want to cause trouble so agreed to it. After an hour of exploring, Jiraiya stated that he needed to find a place to stay for the night and allowed Naruto to go off on his own for more sightseeing but, warned him not to cause trouble. Naruto waved off the comment and continued on till he left the city area and entered the suburbs of Karakura. The area reminded him slightly of the streets back home in Konoha so he felt more at peace there. Naruto continued his little walk until he heard a bell coming not too far from where he was. Turns out it was the school release bell and Naruto watched as the students who seemed to be around his age exit the building.

"_I guess the schools in this continent run later than the ninja academy did, sucks to be them." _Naruto thought as he watched more students exit the building, one of which had gotten his attention quickly.

The person in question was a boy around his age with a tall lean build and orange hair, something Naruto mentally wished he had and wondered if it was natural. The kid's face seemed to be in a permanent scowl and his brown eyes held pain that Naruto seemed to recognize in himself all too well.

"_Something really messed up must've of happened to him in his life._" Naruto concluded as he watched the kid argue with some midget girl with raven hair, Naruto sweat dropped as he watched the two argue and thanks to his ability to read lips, he could tell what they were saying. _"They're like an old married couple."_ Naruto's eyes widened when he read the girl's lips saying 'Shinigami duties' but decided to figure what the girl meant by that another time. That said he did file the names he heard away for later. _"Ichigo and Rukia huh? I've heard worse names."_

Deciding to meet the people in question Naruto walked a little faster to catch up to them until he stumbled across the sight of another person... who caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

It was a girl around the same age as the two people Naruto had spotted. She had long orange hair, pale skin, a very curvaceous figure for a girl her age, her eyes looked grey in color, but what really caught Naruto's attention were the *ahem* melons in her shirt in her shirt.

"_They're huge, not as big as Baa-chan's but a close second." _Naruto thought, as he gave the girls figure a once over. After Naruto did so, before he then suppressed his slightly perverted nature, which was a bit harder for him due to his adolescence and his time with Jiraiya, he noticed a group of guys, around five in total, approaching the girl with equally perverted grins on all of their faces.

"Hey, baby I couldn't help but notice your beauty and wanted to see if you wanted a good time tonight." One of the thugs said smugly, getting into the girl's face. Naruto narrowed his eyes and quickened his pace slightly, the young ninja realizing the type of situation the girl was now in.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested." The girl said simply yet politely. The thug's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the girl's arm roughly.

"I wasn't asking," The thug tried to drag her away only to be stopped by a girl with purple hair who currently had her fist shoved into the thug's gut.

"She said she wasn't interested so get away from her before I kick your ass." The girl stated, one of the thugs took offense to the statement and rushed her.

"Oh yeah take this bit-"

He was cut off from Naruto's knee sending him flying across the other side of the road.

"Now, now, didn't your mother teach you to never hit a lady?" Naruto asked rhetorically as the thug let out a gurgled response before passing out.

"You bastard! Let's get him!" one of the thugs said before he and one of the other thugs charged at Naruto... before they ended up getting their asses handed to them by Naruto and then joining the other two in unconsciousness.

"You'll pay for that, you blonde bum!" The last of the thugs shouted, charging at Naruto head-on... only for the other orange-haired kid, Ichigo, to appear in front of the thug and punch him out of the sky.

"You idiots never learn do you?" Ichigo sighed while scratching his head while turning to the orange-haired girl.

"Orihime, you okay?" Ichigo asked, giving her a once over

"Yes, thanks to you and Tatsuki and…I'm sorry I don't know your name." Orihime said while pointing at Naruto who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head

"Oh sorry about that, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, it's nice to meet you." Naruto said while offering to shake hands which Orihime took.

"Nice to meet you, Naruto I'm Inoue Orihime.' Orihime said in a very happy-go-lucky attitude.

"Kurosaki Ichigo" Ichigo stated shaking Naruto's hand as well.

"Nice to meet you, Strawberry" Naruto chuckled when he got the desired reaction out of Ichigo.

"It's Guardian, not Strawberry, you damn Fishcake." Ichigo growled squeezing Naruto's hand slightly.

"It's Maelstrom, not Fishcake, Strawberry." Naruto countered squeezing Ichigo's hand tighter as well.

"Fishcake."

"Strawberry."

"Fishcake!"

"Strawberry!"

"FISHCAKE!"

"STRAWBERRY!"

"ENOUGH!" Tatsuki shouted as she punched both boys on the head, making them yelp. "Now That, that's out of the way, I'm Arisawa Tatsuki."

"Nice to meet you" Naruto mumbled, while rubbing the bump on his head.

"And I'm Kuchiki Rukia," Rukia stated finally entering the conversation. After introductions have ended, Naruto decided to walk around town with the other four teens to see what there was to do in this land.

"So, Naruto are you some type of street performer or something or is that your normal clothing?" Ichigo asked bluntly. The orange-haired teen was never one for subtlety.

"These are my normal clothes jerk. It's common attire from where I come from and in my line of work." Naruto stated, a little ticked with Ichigo's question.

"You're not from around here?" Tatsuki asked, Naruto shook his head "I see well where do you come from?" Naruto smiled and looked slightly upward as if to reminisce.

"I come from a place to the east of here, about a month and a half by boat. It's not as technologically advanced as Japan is from what I can see and plenty more dangerous." Naruto began, making sure not to tell them anymore than he had to.

"You said you clothes are common for your kind of work. What does your country specialize in?" Rukia asked with curiosity in her eyes. Rukia could tell Naruto was being careful so to not give away too much and she wanted more info in case he was up to something. She had already let Ishida Uryu surprise her, she wouldn't let it happen twice, especially when unlike Uryu, Naruto was clearly not from here and is therefore more of an enigma.

"Um, you can say it's military work." He wasn't lying, ninja were soldiers who took orders from the Hokage. He just didn't want to giveaway anything vital sense no one seemed to have knowledge of the Elemental Nation's existence.

"You're a soldier? That's has to be a bunch of crap. You're no older than we are and what kind of soldier wears orange? Aren't you supposed to blend in with your surroundings?" Ichigo asked question after question which, really got on Naruto's nerves.

"For one thing, the age for military work is much lower than it is here. And at least, when it comes down to it, I can remove my orange, Strawberry!" Naruto growled, referring to Ichigo's hair; though he actually liked that hair color Naruto figured Ichigo was a bit sensitive about it from his observing what he was talking about with Rukia earlier.

Naturally... Naruto was right.

"Take. That. Back. Fishcake," Ichigo said threateningly.

"Why don't you make me!" Naruto fired back before the fist fight began. Orihime tried to break up the fight while Rukia and Tatsuki sighed.

"Men," both mumbled going to stop the brawl before they attracted way too much attention. After a few hours, Naruto said goodbye to his new companions as it began to get dark and went back to the city to try and find Jiraiya. Naruto stopped when he hear a primal roar followed by a shout of "Rasengan!"

"_What the hell is going on?" _Naruto thought as he raced towards Jiraiya's location, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw his sensei fighting some giant scorpion shaped monster with a white mask.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Naruto shouted racing towards his sensei to aid him.

"I don't know, gaki just help me out here!" Jiraiya shouted dodging another attack from the creature who tried to stab him with it's tail.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu" **Naruto shouted, creating ten clones and sent them to charge at the creature who destroyed them all with a swipe of it's tail. Naruto jumped high into the air and created a Rasengan in his hand, channeling wind chakra into it.

"Take this! **Wind Style: Rasengan**!" Naruto shouted smashing his jutsu into the monster's back causing it to roar in pain and leaving a dent in it's back but it was otherwise unharmed.

"W-what the hell is going on? The Rasengan hardly did a thing." Jiraiya stated, going through hand seals.

"Gee, you think? Do something, Ero-Sennin" Naruto said landing next to his sensei.

"I'm already on it, **Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bombs**" Jiraiya let lose a stream of fire shaped like a dragon's head, exploding on impact as it came in contact with the monster which was engulfed in flames.

"You think you got it?" Naruto asked.

"Not sure" Jiraiya replied right before suddenly the scorpion tail swung out of the flames, catching both ninja off guard and slamming them against the pavement. The monster swung again, this time attempting to stab Naruto.

"_D-damn it, I won't be able to dodge!" _Naruto thought, closing his eyes as he waited for the next strike.

"**Nake, Benihime"**

Suddenly, the monster was obliterated by a concentrated red energy that flew passed an awestruck Naruto.

"My, my, that wouldn't have been pleasant, wouldn't you agree?" Naruto looked up to see a man with pale blonde hair, wearing a white and green stripped bucket hat, green robes, a pair of geta, and holding an oddly shaped sword staring down at him with a smile. "Word of advice, kid, when fighting Hollows aim for the mask."

"W-who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Me? Why I'm just a simple candy store owner, Urahara Kisuke at your service."


	4. 3 Shinigami

**Note: This chapter is completely unchanged from the original. Just wanted to let you guys know.**

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kyuubi(Kurama)/attack names**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 3:**

Naruto eyed the man sitting across from him warily, not even blinking as he looked at him. This man who called himself Urahara Kisuke or as Naruto called him, Geta-Boushi (AN: sound familiar?) sat off casually across from him and his sensei, sipping some tea every now and then. Kisuke had saved Naruto and Jiraiya from some weird monster he called a Hollow. After saving the, Kisuke brought them to his store, Urahara Shop to answer any questions the two might have, only to spend the last hour sipping tea. His eye twitching, Naruto sat his own cup down and decided to break the ice.

"So, Geta-Boushi are you just gonna sit there or are you gonna explain what's going on around here." Naruto stated, annoyed

"Oh I was just waiting for you to break the ice….Needs some work." Kisuke replied casually which only urked Naruto more. Before his student decided to use Kisuke as a Rasengan target, Jiraiya decided to keep the conversation going.

"So, Kisuke, can you tell us what that thing was that we fought." Jiraiya asked seriously

"That thing was a Hollow, it's a result of what happens to a human soul that for some reason could not pass on and lost it's heart or was eaten by another Hollow. Hollow's rely on their primal instincts to feed on human souls living or dead especially those with high reiryoku or spirit energy in order to become stronger." Kisuke explained

"S-so that thing was a ghost?" Naruto asked, a little freaked out

"Why yes it was, you'll find that lost spirits are quite common in this land than in the Elemental Nations." Kisuke smirked when he saw the shocked looks on the two ninja's faces

"H-how?" Naruto began

"Did I know?" Kisuke finished, taking another sip of tea. "Well it's only right for Shinigami to know everything about the world, including your little Continent."

"S-shinigami" Jiraiya stuttered

"Oh right, let me explain. You see Shinigami are the spirits responsible for sending the pure souls, pluses to the afterlife known as, Soul Society. They are also responsible for exorcising Hollows with their sprit sword, the Zanpakuto and either purify it and send it to Soul Society or if the spirit had committed any heinous crimes while alive, they are sent to hell. The same rule applies for pluses as well." Kisuke explained, Naruto and Jiraiya were awed by the explanation but, something bugged the both of them about this situation.

"But we only know of one Shinigami and it clearly wasn't a human." Jiraiya said

"Yes, I know of the Shiki Fuin you ninja use, funny I may be one of the few ex-Shinigami who still know of you ninja in great detail. Honestly, most of the Shinigami have forgotten about your existence since none of them had to enter your territory in over one hundred when your world was still chaotic with war over territory. But getting back on track, what you ninja summoned was the Sprit King, The Shinigami answer to him and he had many forms." Kisuke explained

"I see but, I have a couple of other questions, one is what a Zanpakuto is and earlier you said ex Shinigami. What did you mean by that?" Jiraiya asked

"Well I can't tell you the reason as to why I am an ex-Shinigami other than the fact that I was exiled. The Zanpakuto however, is actually something I wanted to talk to young Naruto about." Kisuke said, getting a surprised look from said shinobi. "You see a Zanpakuto is the sentient spirit sword that all Shinigami posses. Each Zanpakuto is unique to the Shinigami in the sense that they are a piece of their soul and can take on different forms depending on the Shinigami. Each Zanpakuto also has a physical manifestation as well as their own unique name. My Zanpakuto." Kisuke pointed to the cane in his lap. "Is called Benihime, The Crimson Princess, and you've already witnessed her Shikai."

"Shi-what?" Naruto asked

"A Zanpakuto has two forms. the first is the Shikai, the initial release, to activate this form you must form a bond with your Zanpakuto strong enough for you to be able to hear it's name. It can also take a serious situation in order for the Zanpakuto to tell you it's name. The second form is the Bankai, the full release, for this state you must meditate and train for years until you can enter your inner world where you must force your Zanpakuto into submission after a challenge they have chosen for you. It could take years for one to reach Bankai and Shinigami captains are required to be able to activate Bankai before they could reach said rank." Kisuke once again explained

"Wait captain? So you mean the Shinigami have a military of some sort?" Jiraiya asked

"Yes they do, The Gotei 13 which consists of 13 divisions each having their own unique combat style or jobs. Each division has a Captain and Vice-Captain with the 1st division Captain is the Commander of the army." Kisuke explained, the two ninja went over everything they had just learned about, contemplating their next move.

"That's all well and good but, what does this have to do with me?" Naruto asked

"Well you see, Naruto, Zanpakuto are manifested by a strong concentration of the reiryoku, spiritual energy, of the Shinigami. You ninja use your jutsu by concentrating chakra, the combination of both reiatsu and physical energy, ki. An other words, it's the energy of life. And from what I can sense from you, your chakra levels are off the charts, around the same level as Ichigo's reiatsu." Naruto cut Kisuke off

"Wait, Ichigo? The carrot top? What does he have to do with any of this?" Naruto asked

"I was getting to that, but back to my explanation, with your extremely high chakra levels I think you'll be able to manifest your own Zanpakuto without having to die or leave your own body." Kisuke concluded, now keep in mind if this were three years ago, Naruto would've jumped to the idea of having a super awesome sword no question. But he's a lot more calculating and he knew there was a catch.

"Why me though? Why not Ero-Sennin or better yet why not ask carrot top I'm sure he'd jump to the idea. You don't even know me and yet you're going to help me no question? I'm not stupid, you're up to something and I want to know now." Naruto stated roughly, Urahara suddenly grew very serious and sighed.

"Yeah I see what you mean, but the truth is, I sensed you coming a few days back and I was shocked that two shinobi were leaving their territory which hasn't happened in hundreds of years. I sensed how powerful you were, Naruto and you and Ichigo may just be the two who could help us in the upcoming conflict. Besides when the Hollow attacked you two, you already became involved." Kisuke explained

"What conflict? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, beginning to get angry.

"I can't give you that information, you'll have to learn it for yourself. Trust me I've said too much already. Ichigo and his friends will need your help later on and I don't want you getting antsy. A friend of mine will tell you everything in due time, just know that when you head home you'll have powers beyond what you can comprehend at the moment. Plus, I need someone to be able to help Ichigo out when the time comes and only you will be able to do that." Kisuke explained

"Again with Ichigo, what's so special about that jerk anyway?" Naruto growled still remembering Ichigo's insults from earlier.

"Well.." Kisuke proceeded to explain the incident when Rukia took the blow meant for Ichigo and he ended up gaining her Shinigami powers. He also explained that the Soul Society will eventually catch on to what happened to Rukia and the fact that what she did for Ichigo is a crime in Soul Society.

"Humph, not that special." Naruto mumbled immaturely

"When do you think they will come for Rukia?" Jiraiya asked, seriously

"There's no way to te…" Kisuke was cut off when he felt a massive reiatsu in the air. "They've arrived" Kisuke said seriously glancing at Naruto who was staring at the direction of the door, having felt the reiatsu. Jiraiya turned to Naruto, knowing what he was thinking and gave him a stern look.

"Naruto, no that's in order, we don't know who we're dealing with ye…" Jiraiya was cut off by Naruto's spike of chakra, followed by a shunshin. "NARUTO…that damn gaki."

"Just leave him, Jiraiya, the boy needs to learn exactly what he's up against." Kisuke said getting up to leave the shop, looking over his shoulder. "Besides, it's not like he's going to be alone."

_With Naruto_

Naruto raced towards the spike of power, going from street to street until he saw what he was searching for and realizing that a battle was already going on. He saw Ichigo in black robes fighting off some red head guy who's head reminded him of a pineapple wearing the same getup and Rukia in a dress standing next to a guy who was clearly the noble type, wearing similar clothes to Ichigo and the red head only with a few noble pieces that looked expensive. Yup, Naruto was certain this guy was a Hyuuga in a past life. Naruto saw the red head's sword change shape into a blade with many sharp protrusions on the blade.

"_That must be a Shikai." _Naruto thought, watching the red head swing his sword at Ichigo watching it split apart in sections. Naruto took this moment to jump in, using his father's Hiraishin to appear in front of Ichigo before the other boy could blink. Naruto used the kunai for the jutsu to hold off the red head's Zanpakuto. The other four people in the area (Minus Uryu who is unconscious at this point) were surprised by the blonde Jinchuuriki's arrival.

"N-Naruto" Ichigo said surprised and shocked a Naruto's arrived.

"How's it going, Carrot Top. Looks like you could use a bit of help." Naruto stated, glaring at the red head while struggling to hold off his sword.

"_Damn, this guy is strong."_ Naruto thought, gritting his teeth, trying to hold off the attack as best he can.

"Who the hell are you?" The red head asked annoyingly

"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, Genin ninja of Konohagakure no Sato." Naruto stated, spiking his chakra slightly to give him a strong enough edge to push the red head off and kick him in the gut. Rukia and the noble guy were surprised at the display. The attack finally knocked Ichigo out of his stupor.

"Naruto, what are you doing here? How did you get in front of me so fast? What's going on here?" Ichigo questioned loudly while Naruto dug into his ear.

"Geez, you gotta be so loud?" Naruto asked rhetorically while flicking off the wax from his pinky.

"I'm also curious about you myself. Did you say you're a ninja? I had forgotten that you're kind still existed." The noble stated

"Yeah, well we do exist and sense I introduced myself, it only common courtesy that you do the same." Naruto stated, glaring at the noblemen

"Kuchiki Byakuya and the man you kicked is my Vice-Captain, Abarai Renji." Byakuya said, putting his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto in case Naruto tried anything.

"I see then I guess that makes you his Captain correct?" Byakuya nodded "You said Kuchiki right? Wouldn't that make you related to Rukia? If that's the case why are you attacking her friend?" Naruto asked though, he knew the answer he didn't want these guys to know where he got his information, not wanting to risk Kisuke's life.

"That is of no concern to a human like yourself. Besides" Byakuya drew his Zanpakuto. "You will not be leaving here alive. It's too bad but, the moment you stopped my subordinate's attack is when you got involved, boy." Byakuya stated glaring at Naruto, at the same time Renji began fighting Ichigo again, not wanting to get in his Captain's way despite wanting to fight Naruto himself.

"You know you remind me of a friend of mine back when he was still a cocky, arrogant, bastard. I hate people like you who feel that they're superior to others because of your status." Naruto removed his cloak and raised his chakra slightly. "I'm going to show you what happens to those who underestimate me!" Naruto rushed at Byakuya throwing multiple shuriken at Byakuya who easily knocked them away with his blade. While distracted by the shuriken, Byakuya didn't notice Naruto get behind him. Naruto sweeped his legs under Byakuya knocking him over, much to the noble's shock. Naruto kicked Byakuya in the air and smirked.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu" **Naruto created multiple clones that began to kick Byakuya higher into the air.

"**U**

**ZU**

**MA**

**KI"**

Naruto jumped into the air, spinning before bringing his heel down on Byakuya's face.

"**Naruto Rendan" **Byakuya hit the pavement hard, busting his lip slightly and leaving a few scrapes and bruises on his face. However, the noble got up casually as if he wasn't injured, shocking Naruto.

"Well, Namikaze I'll admit you caught me by surprise." Byakuya suddenly vanished, appearing behind Naruto. "But, it's still a few hundred years too soon for you to challenge me, **Hado #4: Byakurai**" white lightning suddenly flashed in Byakuya's hand, shooting right through Naruto's chest, or so he thought. 'Naruto" puffed out of existence, much to Byakuya's shock.

"**Rasengan" **Naruto shouted attempting to shove his jutsu into Byakuya's back. Said noble use shunpo to avoid the attack although, he was impressed by the damage it did to the ground.

"_This boy is stronger than he let's on." _Byakuya thought, he heard a thud and looked over to see Renji kneeling in front of Ichigo who was about to deliver the final blow. Byakuya shunpoed in front of Ichigo and sliced his Zanpakuto in half. Before Ichigo could react, he was on the ground bleeding heavily. Naruto growled and attempted to punch Byakuya who easily caught it.

"You bastard! You'll pay for that!" Naruto jumped back and landed in front of Ichigo. Naruto held his hand out, gathering wind chakra while creating a Rasengan.

"**Wind Style: Raseng…"** Naruto suddenly felt white hot pain going across his back and looked behind him to see Renji with a smug look on his face as he retracted his Zanpakuto.

"Sorry kid but, no one attacks my Captain and walks away." Renji stated as Naruto fell over, feeling weak from the loss of blood.

"Y-you b-bastard." Naruto whispered weakly as he fell to the ground, his vision blurring.

"D-damn it, N-Naruto hang on." Ichigo said weakly

"Ichigo" Rukia whispered slightly, surprised to still see him conscious.

"Oh so your still breathing. You truly are strong for a human." Renji said approaching Ichigo.

"Stop, Renji, I've already severed his soul chain and soul sleep with Senka. He will die soon let him enjoy his last moments." Byakuya said, opening a gate to Soul Society.

"N-no, you w-won't take h-her." Ichigo stated weakly, grabbing onto Byakuya's leg however, Rukia kicked him off.

"Don't you dare put your hands on my brother, Ichigo." Rukia said with tears in her eyes

"R-Rukia" Ichigo said shocked

"Enough, you are going to die so why not enjoy your last moments of life and don't worry about me. Goodbye Ichigo." Rukia walked into the gate and turned to look at Ichigo one last time. "I'm sorry" the gate closed and tears suddenly began to well up in Ichigo's eyes as he saw her leave.

"No, Rukia" Ichigo passed out, guilt stricken over Rukia's capture . Naruto had seen everything from his half conscious state and not only felt angry at being toyed with but, he also felt bad for Ichigo for what happened.

"_Damn it, I shouldn't have rushed in like that. I'll pay those bastards back tenfold… Ichigo….I'm sorry." _Naruto thought before allowing darkness to take him, never noticing the two figures who had arrived.

"Damn it we're too late." Jiraiya stated angrily, picking up his student while Kisuke grabbed Ichigo. "So what now?" Kisuke looked between the two young men and smirked.

"I think it's time these boys get ready. We've got ten days until I can open the Senkaimon, that gives me just enough time to whip them into shape." Kisuke stated, using shunpo to head back to the shop. Jiraiya shook his head and stared down at Naruto.

"Why do I get the feeling that, that means bad news for you?" Jiraiya sighed and used shunshin to follow after Kisuke.


	5. 4 Meeting the Zanpakuto

**Note: Just to remind you guys, I've changed the look of the spirit of Naruto's zanpakuto (though there are similarities to the look of the spirit of the zanpakuto of the original version of this fic) as well as its name (though the name won't appear until next chapter), though the appearance and abilities of Naruto's shikai have been left unchanged so please keep all this in mind as you read this chapter as well as chapter 5 (as well as the fact that I've either removed or reworked any scenes that are pairing-related so that they are NOT pairing-related).**

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kyuubi (Kurama)/attack names**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 4:**

Naruto groaned as he sat up from the futon he had been laying on, for how long? He had no idea. Naruto checked his surroundings to discover that he was back at Urahara's Shop. Confused for a moment, Naruto tried to remember why he was sore and in bed in the first place and that's when it hit him.

"_That pineapple headed bastard! If I ever see him again, I'm paying him back double for that cheap shot." _Naruto thought, slightly bummed out from his cheap defeat but, than he had remembered another important factor. _"Wait a sec, where the hell is Ichigo? From what I remember he was in worse condition as I was."_

"AAAHHH, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" A voice shouted from the other room next to Naruto's. The blonde ninja jumped to his feet and tackled the door down to discover one of the most hilarious yet, creepy things he had ever seen. Tessai, Kisuke's assistant under the covers with a disgusted looking Ichigo under him. Naruto couldn't take it and proceeded to laugh his ass off while rolling on the floor.

"W-wow, Carrot Top I didn't k-know you s-swung that way." Naruto laughed out

"Oh, Mr. Namikaze you're awake. How are you feeling?" Tessai asked politely

"Fine, thank you, and call me Naruto." Naruto replied. Ichigo began to twitch suddenly, his anger and disgust noticeable.

"Yeah that's all well and good but.." Ichigo began and suddenly kicked Tessai off of him. "Don't ever do that again." Ichigo turned to look at Naruto who was still snickering slightly. Naruto noticed this and straightened up a little.

"Alright, Ichigo I can tell you have a few questions for what happened during that fight but, for now let's find Geta-Boushi and Ero-Sennin, I'm sure can give us a few answers." Naruto suggested, Ichigo shrugged and wondered who Ero-Sennin was but, didn't question Naruto about it. The two teens found said men talking in the living area, both of them turning to the boys when they walked in.

"Oh my, it seems you're both finally awake. So how'd the fight go." Kisuke asked, making Ichigo extremely angry and he ran towards Kisuke, trying to attack him only for Naruto and Jiraiya to restrain him.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'HOW'D THE FIGHT GO?' YOU KNOW DAMN WELL HOW IT WENT AND YOU KNEW THAT I COULDN'T BEAT THEM DIDN'T YOU? YOU KNEW THEY WOULD TAKE RUKIA AWAY!" Ichigo was in tears at this point, both ninja could see the pain and guilt in his eyes do to his failure although, Jiraiya noticed something else that seemed like…loneliness? Kisuke himself felt slight guilt over what he'd done but, he had to show Ichigo that his current abilities…which were none at this point wouldn't have helped him later on and needed this to happen to set his plans in motion.

"Is that true, Urahara?" Naruto asked, slight disdain evident in his tone considering that he had been used as well and Naruto hated being someone's guinea pig.

"Yes, I did know that neither of you would have been able win those battles. In fact, I would have been scared for Soul Society if you did succeed. But, that besides the point, your defeats were necessary mostly for you, Ichigo because, now that Rukia's power has all but left you, you can now gain you own Shinigami abilities. That is unless you decided to change your mind about saving your precious Rukia?" Kisuke saw the fire return in Ichigo's eyes at his last comment and he smirked, good now it was time to get this show started.

"How long did you say we have before Rukia can be put on trial?" Jiraiya asked, having gone over the rules and regulations of the Soul Society with Kisuke for the past couple days while the boys were unconscious and knew there was a waiting period for any trial.

"About ten days, thirty for her execution. That's plenty of time for them to train." Kisuke said before turning to a door that looked to be the storage room. After a couple minutes, Kisuke came out with a glowing circular object, throwing it to Naruto.

"What's this thing supposed to be?" Naruto asked, confused

"That orb is meant for Shinigami academy students to channel their reiryoku into an order to materialize their Zanpakuto. Sense you're alive and you have a mastery over you chakra, the combination of reiryoku, spirit energy and ki, life essence you can channel it as a substitute while for your own Zanpakuto without having to be a spirit." Kisuke explained

"Wait, how come he gets to have a Zanpakuto while in his body and I have to be in spirit form?" Ichigo asked, curious

"That's because unlike you, Ichigo, Naruto as well as any other ninja combine their ki and reiryoku to create chakra as I just said before. However, Naruto has an unusually high amount of chakra like you do when it comes to reiryoku, just enough to be able to materialize his own Zanpakuto while alive. Any other shinobi like Jiraiya for example." Kisuke pointed to said ninja. "Who doesn't have at least an equal amount of chakra cannot create their own Zanpakuto while alive."

"I don't even know what you mean by a shinobi... but I guess I'll find out later so I'll leave it at that for now." Ichigo said, shrugging.

"Excellent! Now please follow me so we can begin." Kisuke said, leading the three people down to his basement…One really HUGE basement that looked like an endless barren wasteland. "Oh my look at the size of this place. How can anything this big fit down here." Everyone gave Kisuke a dry look when he practically bragged about the place. Kisuke sighed while muttering to himself about how 'everyone's a critic' and looked at Naruto.

"What's up, Geta-Boushi?" Naruto asked

"Go find an open area for you to focus on the orb while Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, and I help Ichigo regain his powers." Kisuke instructed, Naruto shrugged and went off on his own.

"What about me?" Jiraiya asked.

"Train and train hard because, in ten days you're going to be fighting a battle like you've never seen before." Kisuke stated before going off. Jiraiya didn't need to be told twice after seeing what those Hollow creatures could do. Who knows how powerful those Shinigami were? Jiraiya sped off to his own area to train, he had work to do and he knew it.

_With Naruto_

"This looks good enough." Naruto said, sitting on the ground in the lotus position while holding the orb in his hands. He began to focus chakra steadily into the orb..and nothing was happening. Frustrated, Naruto focused more and still nothing happened. Now he was livid and focused more than half of his chakra and suddenly the orb began to glow.

"_What the hell?"_ The orb flashed brightly and Naruto fell over unconscious.

_With Ichigo..._

"You want me to fight her?" Ichigo said while pointing down at Ururu who was wearing a boxers equipment.

"Yup now don't get killed now." Kisuke said with a smug grin and chuckled as he watched Ichigo run from Ururu who the carrot top discovered was really, REALLY, strong.

_With Naruto Again..._

"Ugh," Naruto groaned as he got up off of the wet floor.

"_Wait wet floor?" _Naruto looked up…to find himself staring at the Kyuubi's cage. Said Bijuu was surprised to find his container in his mindscape without him noticing.

"**What are you doing here, gaki?" **Kyuubi asked, irritated by Naruto's unexpected presence.

"I honestly have no idea fur-ball. I just assumed you called me here." Naruto said getting up off the floor.

"**Well I didn't. Now go away." **Kyuubi growled, Naruto tried to do so but, discovered to his confusion that he couldn't.

"**I'm afraid you can't do that, Naruto."** A deep voice said. Naruto spun around while the Kyuubi looked up, slightly interested by what he saw.

Both Naruto and the Kyuubi were currently gazing at the sight of a man, easily in his mid-twenties, with a fairly lean build. The man had blood red hair that reached below his shoulders and blood red eyes with black slits for pupils.

The man clearly had a thing for the colors red and black as his attire consisted of only those colors. The man wore a blood red apron-like shirt with black trimmings as well as some black armor plating (think of Neji's shirt in Part 2 before the War Arc mixed with the plated armor worn by the Uzumaki Clan), a simple pair of black pants, a large blood red sash wrapped around his waist, a shinobi headband with the symbol of Konoha (a stylized leaf) emblazoned on the metal plate with a black cloth, and blood red shinobi-style sandal. While Naruto and the Kyubi couldn't see it from where they were standing the man also had what looked like two rectangular sheaths on his back, placed in the form of an X, with a round, narrow hole that formed a tube like hole in each sheath that were empty at the moment.

After a few minutes the Biju finally questioned the unknown figure.

"**Who are you?" **Kyuubi demanded.

"**Who am I? Seeing as you've seen several other like me before I though you would've already known that, Kurama.**" The figure responded

"Kurama?" Naruto parroted as he turned to the fox, who was actually shocked by what this being just said.

"**How did you know my name?" **the now named, Kurama demanded

"**Well seeing as I'm a Zanpakuto spirit who has absorbed some of your conscious into my own as well as your power, it's only natural that I would know who you are." **Naruto's Zanpakuto explained.

"**So you're a** **Zanpakuto Spirit, huh? I haven't seen your kind or the Shinigami who wield you in centuries back home. I'm surprised the boy was able to awaken you while alive.**" Kurama stated.

"Okay I'm very confused right now." Naruto said while looking between the two.

"**That can wait for now, Naruto. It's obvious you have awakened me for a reason." **Naruto's Zanpakuto stated

"Yes, and I'm sure if you're in my mindscape that you already know that reason." Naruto replied, his sword smirked

"**Very perceptive."**

"Thank you, so do you have a name? I don't think I can call you sword." Naruto said

"**I do, as do all Zanpakuto. My name is…"** His lips moved but, Naruto couldn't hear him as if the guys had gone mute.

"Um you mind running that by me again?" Naruto Zanpakuto frowned at hearing this.

"**How disappointing, it appears you can't hear my name yet. I guess that means you'll have to prove yourself worthy to wield me." **The Zanpakuto held out his hand, creating a katana. The katana had a silver blade, it's guard was circular and white as was the hilt. The pommel was white as well, and the wrappings were black. **"If you can defeat me in a spar I will deem you worthy to wield me now. If not than you will have to wait till after death to fight alongside me."**

"Alright than, let's go." Naruto rushed towards his Zanpakuto and the fight began.

_With Ichigo..._

"AAAAAHHH" Ichigo's shout of pain echoed through the deep hole he was in as Kisuke and his group looked down below.

"Are you sure about this Kisuke, the mask is already forming." Indeed Tessai was right, a Hollow mask was forming on Ichigo's face but, the peculiar part was that the mask was forming while Ichigo was still just a plus.

"Just watch, Tessai it's almost over." Kisuke looked on with a serious expression, as he watched Ichigo writhe in pain.

_Inside Ichigo's mindscape_

Ichigo was having a tough time trying to figure out which box his sword was in out of the millions in front of him as his Inner World crumbled around him.

"**You must hurry, Ichigo you're running out of time."** His Zanpakuto spirit said calmly.

"Yeah I think I….GOT IT." Ichigo had used his ability to sense spirit ribbons to find his sword and now had it by it's handle.

"**Now hurry, you must pull me out now!"** Ichigo didn't need to be told twice and pulled.

_With Naruto_

"**Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet" **Naruto shot a ball of compressed wind at his Zanpakuto who simply cut the attack in half with his sword.

"**Not good enough, Naruto"**

"_Damn it, nothing I throw at him seems to be working, he just cancels out all my jutsu." _Naruto thought in frustration. He had been fighting his Zanpakuto for…he didn't know how long it had been, all he knew was that things weren't going well.

"Alright, if that didn't work," Naruto flashed through hand seals. "Then try this, **Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu." **The ankle length water began to churn under the two fighters, a geyser shot up from behind Naruto, taking the shape of a Chinese dragon. Naruto commanded his creation to attack, watching it rush his Zanpakuto who smirked and jumped into the air to face the water creature and with one slash, destroyed it. Naruto was shocked at how easily his jutsu was taken out and growled lowly as his Zanpakuto landed on the ground calmly.

"**It appears that your attempts to defeat me are ineffective, maybe you're not worthy to wield me after all." **The Zanpakuto stated, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stared down the spirit.

"I don't care if you consider me worthy or not, I will defeat you and I will use your power to help Ichigo rescue Rukia." Naruto replied

"**Oh? And why must you do that? You do not know Rukia well enough for you to want to save her. And how are you so sure you can defeat me? Remember what I told you, Naruto if you can't defeat me here than you shall not be able to wield me until after you die." **Naruto only smirked at his Zanpakuto, much to the spirit's confusion.

"I may not know Rukia that well if at all but, I feel just as responsible as Ichigo at letting those bastards take her away. It's obvious to me that Ichigo cares about her deeply and I simply don't want to see the guy miserable. He reminds me a lot of how I was as a child, his eyes so full of pain. If I could return this favor maybe he and Rukia can be happy and that's enough for me to want to save her from her home's stupid laws and besides she did nothing wrong, all she did was help Ichigo save his family. And regardless if I can defeat you or not, I'll still help anyone in need. I've never needed a Zanpakuto before hell I didn't even know what they were until a couple days ago, so why would I need one now? So I don't care if I win or not I'll still help them and I never go back on my word, that's my nindo." Naruto's Zanpakuto gave him a wide grin…and threw the sword he was holding at Naruto who caught it easily. "W-what?"

"**Congrats, Naruto, you pass the test. Anyone willing to selflessly throw themselves in harm's way for the sake of others, strangers know less is a true warrior and you are now worthy to wield me.**" Naruto tried to respond but felt disoriented suddenly, the world around him starting to melt away, his world began to go dark but, he heard one last thing from the spirit. **"Just remember, to unlock my power you must know my name but, you are not ready yet. You will be soon however, until then good luck, Naruto."**

_Real World_

Naruto's eyes shot open, confused he looked around to discover he was back in Urahara's training grounds. Naruto let out a content sigh as he felt his Zanpakuto in his hands in place of the orb that was there before.

_Boom!_

Naruto's head snapped in the direction of a huge explosion that appeared to be coming from the direction of Ichigo and the others.

"_What the hell's going on over there?" _Naruto grabbed his Zanpakuto and sped off in the direction of the blast. After five minutes of running, Naruto made it back to the others at the same time Jiraiya did as he had also witnessed the blast from his training area.

"Geta-Boushi, what's going on?" Naruto demanded

"Ichigo has emerged," Was the only answer he got, short and to the point. The smoke around them cleared and much to the shock of everyone, Ichigo stood tall, garbed in Shinigami robes once again, giant sword and all but, with a couple new additions, a red accessory that went across his chest and a white mask….that resembled a Hollow.

"I-Ichigo?" Naruto stuttered in shock, what happened to him? Jiraiya began to form a Rasengan just in case Ichigo was no longer among them. Everyone was surprised when Ichigo lifted his broken blade and slammed the blunt end into the mask, shattering it.

"Man, that was close." Ichigo sighed to himself, not realizing all the attention he had just received.

"Well, Ichigo, it appears you and Naruto here of gotten your powers and…" Kisuke was cut off by a knee to the gut, courtesy of Ichigo.

"That was for almost killing me, no offense." Ichigo said as if he hadn't done a thing.

"N-none taken." Kisuke breathed out in pain, Kisuke shook his head and removed his Zanpakuto from his cane.

"Now for the final test: To knock off my hat from my head with Shikai." Kisuke smirked at the two teens expressions. This was gonna be fun.


	6. 5 Shikai

"This" is talking

**"This" is Zanpakuto/Kurama/attack names**

"This" is thinking

**Chapter 5:**

"Come on, boys turn and fight like men." Shouted Kisuke who was swinging around Benihime in her sealed state while chasing down our favorite orange and blonde duo.

"Screw you, Geta-Boushi! I've seen what you could do with that thing I ain't stopping." Naruto shouted, running alongside Ichigo who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Hey Naruto, are you sure that thing is a real Zanpakuto? I mean he's not a Shinigami." Ichigo said. Naruto gave Ichigo a deadpanned look and had a sudden urge to hit the strawberry blonde over his head.

"You're real piece of work you know that? You know what go ahead and find out for yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you." Naruto gave Ichigo a piece sign before speeding on ahead.

"_You didn't warn me though._" Ichigo thought with a sweat drop. He turned to face Kisuke…only for Kisuke to chop off what remained of his sword.

"You thought that just because I wasn't a Shinigami I couldn't have a Zanpakuto? How naïve of you, Ichigo, A**waken, Benihime**" Kisuke's blade transformed once again, much to the shock of Ichigo who had never seen it before. "I can assure you that this Zanpakuto is very real."

_With Naruto_

"Damn it, he released it," Naruto began, looking down at his own Zanpakuto. "How the hell am I supposed to match him with a sealed sword? This would be so much easier if I was allowed to use ninjutsu." Naruto continued his rant never taking notice of himself appearing in his mindscape.

"**So you finally need my true power, Naruto?**" Naruto jumped when he discovered the spirit of his Zanpakuto behind him.

"So you think I'm ready?" Naruto asked, looking up at the spirit who crossed his arms and smirked

"Y**our situation seems to have left me with no other option. You cannot defeat Benihime with a sealed Zanpakuto and I sense that your orange friend is in a similar state as yourself.**"

"So how does this work? Is there like some sort of password or phrase?" The spirit chuckled and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"**All you have to say is…**" Naruto was suddenly thrown out of his mindscape to discover Ichigo standing still as if in a trance. From behind the rock where he was hiding, Naruto discovered Kisuke just staring at Ichigo in wait.

"What's going on?"

_With Ichigo_

Ichigo found himself in his inner world full of skyscrapers and a clear sky staring down his own spirit.

"**Why do you run, Ichigo?**"

"Master."

After Ichigo's spirit said a few things Ichigo finally stopped moving before he began turning to face Kisuke as the spirit kept speaking to him.

"**Turn and face him Ichigo, Abandon your fear, look forward never stop, you'll age if you pull back, you'll die if you hesitate… NOW SHOUT OUT MY NAME!**"

"**ZANGETSU!**" Ichigo turned, releasing a high amount of reiryoku from his sword that enveloped the area. When the smoke cleared, Jiraiya who had been watching whistled lowly.

"That kid sure is impressive."

Naruto couldn't help the slight chuckle that came from his throat as he laid eyes on the elegant cleaver of a blade that was Zangetsu. The sword was the same length as it's sealed state, it had no guard and it's handle was wrapped to the point the wrapping hung passed the pommel. The sword was black and had a silver blade. Ichigo was in a crouched position as everyone got a good look at his Zanpakuto.

Naruto decided it was time to approach the others and walked slowly towards Kisuke, sword drawn and smirk on his face.

"Awesome sword, Ichigo, bravo." Naruto stated

"Aw, Naruto good to see you, Ichigo was able to release his sword so now I guess it's your turn." Kisuke stated which only made Naruto's grin widen.

"Yeah Geta-Boushi, you're absolutely right." Naruto's Zanpakuto began to glow a brilliant sapphire. "**Cut them down, Shinku no Hayate (The Crimson Gale)!**" The effect was instantaneous, the area was enveloped in a high amount of chakra that blew debris everywhere. When the smoke cleared everyone had a look of confusion on their faces minus Jiraiya who couldn't even begin to hide the smirk on his face.

"J_ust like his old man aye, Minato._"

Naruto held up dual three pronged kunai, similar to his father's own only the kunai were pure black instead of grey with white handles and silver blades.

"So that's it? That's rather disappointing." Kisuke stated

"Oh really?" Kisuke's eyes widened as everyone else (minus Jiraiya who was trying not to laugh at this point) looked on in awe as Naruto appeared behind Kisuke instantly with only the soft sound of the wind to signify his movement. "You should never judge a book by its cover, Urahara." A powerful wind began to dance along the blade of one of the kunai.

"Incredible," Ichigo breathed at the sight, he smirked and held Zangetsu high. "Hey Naruto, let's show Geta-Boushi what these babies can do."

"You read my mind, Ichigo." Naruto swung the wind enveloped kunai while Ichigo swung Zangetsu, releasing a strong amount of reiryoku.

"**Nake, Benihime**" The blasts collided setting off a powerful explosion that knocked the spectators off their feet, shooting dust and debris everywhere. When the smoke cleared both Naruto and Ichigo were unconscious and Kisuke's hat had been blown off. Kisuke stared at his damaged head gear for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

"Trial 3: Passed."

After the last trial was completed, Kisuke spent the next few days training Naruto and Ichigo to better control their Shikai and learn a few new abilities. While that was going on, Jiraiya had left to Mt. Myoboku for a better place to train for the upcoming events. In between sessions with Kisuke, Naruto would take Ichigo to the side and explained to him that it could be a good idea to get to know their Zanpakuto better so they could work better as partners. At first, Ichigo didn't get it, only thinking his Zanpakuto was a weapon but, Zangetsu explained to him that all Zanpakuto had feelings and emotions just like any other person and he felt as if Ichigo didn't feel worthy to wield him if that was his mindset. So Zangetsu put Ichigo through his own trial to combat a black and white replica of himself in his Inner World. Ichigo defeated the clone and explained to Zangetsu that he would treat him better and fight alongside him.

Completing this trial gave Ichigo knowledge of Zangetsu's only technique, Getsuga Tensho. The technique wasn't really strong but, Zangetsu explained that as his control and strength grew the Getsuga becomes much more powerful. Naruto got his own training by Shinku no Hayate, or Hayate for short. He discovered that if he focused a small amount of chakra into his left handed kunai he creates a high speed cyclone that can potentially cut his opponent to ribbons, **Tatsumaki (Tornado)**. The right handed kunai creates multiple blades of wind, **Kaze no Yaiba Kyouran (Wind Blade Fury)**. Hayate explained that the attacks can be upgraded to their true abilities but only in Bankai, something Naruto wouldn't gain for a while and like Getsuga Tensho the attacks weren't as strong as they could be now; in addition, Naruto's zanpakuto had several other attacks that would also not be available until such that he has achieved bankai.

The last couple of days were spent with Ichigo's family where Naruto learned that Isshin could be very…excited to see his son; while Naruto did notice that something was off about Isshin he was unable to figure out what that was. The family spent the last night at a fireworks festival having a good old time, although Ichigo didn't seem all that excited. Naruto, on the other, was having a hell of a time; there were festivals similar to this one this back where the young ninja came from and he always seemed to really enjoy himself.

Eventually Naruto, Ichigo, and Ichigo's family ran into Tatsuki and Orihime who were standing by the river that cut through Karakura Town. After a few minutes, Tatsuki had went to go speak to Ichigo for a bit, the orange hair-haired teenager having gone with his family to another part of the festival, so Naruto decided to talk with Orihime for a bit seeing as he had nothing better to do... though it was the busty girl who spoke first.

"It's a beautiful night out, isn't it?" Orihime asked to which Naruto nodded.

"Yeah... so, do you have any plans for summer break, Inoue?" Naruto asked, making the girl giggle.

"No need to be so formal, Naruto it's just Orihime. And to answer your question I was thinking of going to see a friend." Orihime said, smiling up at Naruto.

Naruto raised his eyebrows at this.

"I see... so your going out of town or something?" Naruto asked to which Orihime nodded in response.

"Yep. What about you, Naruto?" Orihime asked. Naruto placed a hand on his chin as if trying to thinking out what he should say and didn't answer Orihime for a few minutes.

"I'm going where all people go," Naruto said, keeping his answer as vague as humanly possible, which only seemed to confuse Orihime.

After a few minutes more of conversation between the two teenagers, Orihime left with Tatsuki, leaving Naruto to his own devices. After another couple of hours, Ichigo had headed home to await further orders from Kisuke. Naruto had come along more or less out of convenience sense he had went to the festival with Ichigo in the first place. Speaking of Ichigo... he was currently in his room along with Naruto and was watching Naruto who sitting in a meditative posture with his eyes closed.

"Hey, Naruto... what are you doing, anyways?" Ichigo asked, one of several questions the teenager had asked his blonde counterpart. Naruto sighed at hearing this before opening his eyes to look at Ichigo in annoyance.

"It's a special technique I learned to use before I came here; I'm trying to see if I can shorten the time it takes to activate it. I need to concentrate in order to activate it, though, something that's a bit difficult when someone keeps asking me a question every few minutes," Naruto retorted, causing Ichigo's left eye to twitch in annoyance.

"Che... it's probably nothing that special, you damned Fishcake," Ichigo retorted causing a vein to pop out of Naruto's forehead.

"Big talk, coming from the guy who got his ass handed to him by a girl after he found himself sleeping with a guy, Strawberry," Naruto snapped back.

Before any blood could be spilled, namely Naruto's, something shot through Ichigo's window and slammed into his wall, showing a message from Kisuke that seemed to be written in blood telling the two to head to Urahara's Shop. After a run in with Isshin who gave Ichigo a small pendent, the two began to head to the shop. Naruto was decked out in his ninja gear with slight alterations. His coat was now sleeveless and he had forgone the jacket he had worn under it. Now he had on a blood red t-shirt. The last additions were that he replaced the orange and black coat with a black one with red flames and he had Shinku no Hayatestrapped to his back with barely visible ninja wire along with black fingerless gloves with metal plates.

After a few minutes, the two finally arrived at the shop and were greeted by a young dark skinned man with brown hair, wearing a sleeveless gray t-shirt with a red stripe going down his right side with black jeans and white sneakers. He also seemed to have a tattoo but Naruto didn't bother to read it.

"Chad? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked the giant man in surprise.

"What does it look like, Ichigo? I'm going to save Rukia with you." Chad replied then he turned towards Naruto. "I don't think we've met, I'm Yasutora Sado." Sado held out a hand for Naruto to shake.

"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto said, introducing himself.

"Wait a sec, Chad, do even know what you're saying-?" Ichigo was cut off by a familiar voice full of superiority that urked him.

"Kurosaki, will you shut up. It's clear that you will need help if all you have going with you are a couple of street performers." A young man wearing all white clothes with blue lining with blue hair and glasses said from atop a wall. That comment had Naruto practically foaming at the mouth. Why did everyone in this country say that?

"Oh yeah what makes you so special, four eyes? Just who the hell are you?"

"Ishida Uryu. I am a Quincy," Naruto was suddenly reminded of a certain Uchiha do to this guy's attitude. Naruto want to say something, mostly ask questions on what the hell was a Quincy, but froze when he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"Well it looks like everyone's here and accounted for," the voice said; Naruto turned around to see Orihime standing there.

"O-Orihime, why are you here?" Naruto asked in shock, Ichigo was in no better state when he saw her himself.

"Rukia was a friend and I want to do everything I can to bring her back. Rukia saved Chad's life and he wants to return the favor. And If I recall Uryu had a debt to pay to Rukia. Ichigo has obvious reasons to want to save her but, what about you Naruto? Why are you here?" Naruto was a little surprised that the question was forced back on him but, he shrugged it off.

"I was there when Rukia was taken away and even fought her brother off to a draw." Ichigo grumbled at that. "But, his Lieutenant got a cheap shot on me and they were able to get away. I failed once and I won't fail again, I won't let some innocent life get destroyed over a stupid reason. The mission will be successful, I'll see to it myself if I have to." Naruto's speech was interrupted by the sound of clapping, he turned to see Jiraiya, Kisuke, and a black cat watching them.

"Well said, Naruto, now let's head down to the training grounds so we can begin shall we." Kisuke said turning his back to head back down to the basement, with Naruto and the others following suit.


	7. 6 The Rescue Begins

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Hollow Ichigo/Zanpakuto/attack names**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 6:**

Ichigo quietly let out a deep breath, feeling anxious about the upcoming events. After his defeat at the hands of Renji and Byakuya, he had promised himself to pay the both back tenfold. He thought he should have more confidence after all he needed to be to save Rukia, he couldn't have cold feet now. He was, of course, still nervous though he had managed to hide it pretty well from the others but who could blame him? Fighting an entire army would make anyone jumpy but, they wouldn't be as suicidal as his little group which only consisted of seven people going against hundreds of Shinigami. Ichigo shook his head at his thoughts, he needed to stay positive.

"_I can't think like that, I will save Rukia, I must." _Ichigo thought, getting back his resolve.

Naruto watched the emotions on Ichigo's face from his position and growled lowly in frustration.

"_Don't worry, Ichigo we will get Rukia back, I promise." _Naruto declared mentally,

Jiraiya smirked, knowing exactly what his student was thinking, he had to give the gaki credit, he truly was a loyal friend.

"_They might not see it yet, but those boys are gonna be something to look forward to in the future."_

Uryu simply pushed his glasses up and watched the others with a calculating eye.

"_This is my chance to prove myself, I will avenge you… sensei."_

Chad set his stone gaze on Ichigo as if reminiscing about old times.

"_Rukia saved my life, Ichigo seems to care deeply for her. I told you that we would defend on another ever since the day you got back my Abuelo's medallion. This is no different, Ichigo, I will give up my own life if it means defending you my friend."_

Orihime gave Ichigo a glance before she entered in her own thoughts.

"_Ever since I met him, Ichigo was always there for me. Both he and Rukia saved my life from my brother and were able to help me fix my mistake with him. Rukia... we're coming to save you. We promise!_"

Kisuke observed the group of supposed rescuers and couldn't help but smile.

"_These guys may just be what Soul Society needs for a wakeup call."_ Kisuke finally decided it was time to begin the operation, so with a clap of his hands, he began to get their attention.

"Alright everyone, I believe it's time to begin." Kisuke began, walking up to the group. "But first," Kisuke poked Ichigo in the forehead with the bottom of his cane, releasing his Shinigami form from his body, much to the others astonishment.

"So Ichigo, sense you're out of this Ichigo's body, does that mean you're the real Ichigo now?" Orihime babbled.

"Don't talk about me like I'm some kind of dress up doll." Ichigo demanded.

"Alright, everyone, let's continue," Kisuke resumed his explanation, jumping on top of a pillar. "This portal leads to the Dangai, the precipice world that exists between the World of the Living and Soul Society. This portal is key to travel between the two worlds. However, this isn't a proper method of travel like a Senkaimon would be to a Shinigami. Therefore I can only keep this open for a short amount of time."

"How short?" Naruto asked.

"Four minutes."

"Are you sure that's enough time to get through?" Jiraiya asked, concerned.

"Normally no, the whole concept itself is a little sketchy but we are pressed for time, so this is the best method we have." Kisuke explained.

"That's not good enough," Ichigo snapped bacl.

"That's not the point here," a voice said, causing everyone to turn around…to see a black cat.

"Yoruichi!" Orihime happily exclaimed.

Ichigo's reaction, on the other hand, was a bit different.

"THAT FREAKIN CAT JUST SPOKE TO ME!" he yelled.

"His name is Yoruichi, and he's not just a cat," Orihime said, almost in a childish pouting manner.

"It does take some getting used to." Uryu pointed out.

"I'm still getting used to it myself." Chad added.

Naruto looked on at this scene while trying to surpress a few snickers.

" _Man, I wonder how Ichigo would react if he met the Chief Toad and the others... that'd be an awesome prank to try out when we get back,_" Naruto thought to himself as Yourichi got everyone to refocus on the situation at hand.

"Enough! Now as I was saying, the point here is that you don't need to worry about getting through the Dangai in time, that's why I'm here. No, you must focus on the mission at hand, Rukia's execution is not too long from now so we must move quickly." Yoruichi explained

"Well duh, that's why we're going," Naruto mumbled, earning him a smack upside the head from Jiraiya.

"Don't worry about that we will make sure we get her back." Ichigo stated with conviction

"Are you sure you know the consequences of your actions completely? Be aware that if you fail, you will never again be able to return to this world." Yoruichi warned.

"Then we'll just have to win then, now won't we?" Ichigo countered, smirking.

"Well said," Yoruichi stated proudly. A soft tap from Kisuke's cane gained their attention once again.

"Alright, remember, you have four minutes to get through the portal. Be quick and be careful, and above all," The air around them grew dense, showing that Kisuke was serious about his next words. "Come back alive!"

After a quiet chant, the swirling black portal activated.

"It's time, let's go and remember stay close." With that Yoruichi headed in followed by Ichigo then Naruto and finally, the rest of the group followed suit. Kisuke slowly approached the swirling vortex and put his hand out to try and touch it, only for it to shock the scientist.

"Good luck,"

_Inside the Dangai_

"Come on slow pokes, keep it together."

"Easy for you to say, you stamina freak, we can't run as fast as you do."

This was the current conversation between our two heroes. Thanks to his shinobi training and stamina from his Jinchuuriki status and clan background, Naruto was easily storming through the Dangai at unnatural speeds. Jiraiya and Yoruichi were able to keep up for obvious reasons but unfortunately, the inexperienced teenagers behind them were no where near able to keep it up and, to make matters worse, a strange brown hairy…thing with a flashlight for an eye was speeding towards them from behind.

"What the hell is that thing?" Uryu shouted

"Shit! It's the Cleaner, it comes through here once a week. We just had the poor luck to come through today. Be careful, none of your attacks will work on it as it absorbs reiatsu and it will destroy you if touched, so get moving!" Yoruichi shouted, picking her speed a bit.

The Cleaner began to get faster, despite the increased speed of the others even catching Uryu's cape.

"UGH, Damn!" Uryu struggled, Chad acted quickly and tore the cape apart, allowing the young Quincy to escape.

"At this rate, we're not gonna make it!" Jiraiya growled, pumping chakra into his legs to give him another boost.

"I'll stop it," Orihime stopped and reached for her hairpins. Naruto narrowed his eyes, at that close range she could get hurt.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu," **two Naruto clones poofed into existence racing towards the Cleaner while the real Naruto grabbed Orihime. "Get ready for impact!"

"What?" was the intelligent response from the still running crowd who finally took notice in the giant swirling ball of wind infused chakra that both clones were holding.

"**Wind Style: Giant Rasengan!" **The jutsu's impact against the giant blew everyone back, sending them through the portal leaving a severely damaged Cleaner behind.

…

*SLAM*

Our heroes landed rather unceremoniously on a dirt road.

"Wow, Ichigo, that landing had such an artistic flare." Orihime judged.

"Thanks... I guess," Ichigo mumbled from the ground.

The group got off the ground and took in their surroundings. The area looked like a large village and seemed to be rather peaceful with people going about their day as if a bunch of strangers didn't land on the ground in the middle of town.

"Where are we?" Jiraiya asked, gazing over the scenery he had to admit it seemed rather calm.

"This is Rukongai, the area that surrounds the Seireitei, the home of the Shinigami. Pluses are sent here after konso in order to start a new life for themselves." Yoruichi explained

"So this is the afterlife? If this is what's waiting for me in death, I may not mind when my time comes" Naruto chuckled, getting a good look around

"Well it's not all like this, from the appearance I can guess we are in a low level area."

"Low level area? What do you mean?" Chad asked

"There are a total of 80 districts in both the west and the east, the higher the number, the more poverty stricken and dangerous the area is. As you can imagine, the best place to live is the first district where most of the wealthy reside." Yoruichi explained

"Okay so that explains this place but, what about this Seireitei?" Uryu asked

"The Seireitei is located right in the middle of all the districts," Yoruichi began pointing her paw in the direction of the area which looked to be surrounded by large palaces. "And it seems that we had the luck of landing rather close to it. So let's think of a plan and-HEY ICHIGO WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

Ichigo wasn't listening and kept running toward the area, the area where Rukia was being held prisoner and he wouldn't miss his chance to get to her. However, it seemed that some great deity out there just loved to make his job all the more difficult

"What the hell?" He muttered

Suddenly a giant figure slammed into the ground, blocking Ichigo's path.

"What's this? Someone trying to enter the Seireitei without proper escort?" The figure turned out to be a giant man in a custom one sleeved Shinigami robes. He was wearing a small red had and wielded a giant axe. "Now you have to face me if you hope to get beyond this gate. The guardian of the gate, Jidanbo."

"He's huge!" Naruto nearly shouted gazing at the man.

"Just perfect," Yoruichi muttered "If we're going to have any hope here, we need to work together. Jidanbo is known to have never lost a battle and he must be taken out if we have any hope of progress."

"No," Naruto stated

"What?" Yoruichi looked miffed at her plan being dismissed by the blonde

"Ichigo's got this, let him fight on his own." Naruto said

"How are you so sure?" Orihime asked curiously, making Naruto smirk.

"Because I trained with him."

Sure enough, Ichigo easily dominated Jidanbo, blocking his axe strikes with Zangetsu before delivering his own attack, breaking his first axe. Jidanbo began to cry at losing his precious weapon, causing the surrounding audience to face fault The now gentle giant praised the young Shinigami for defeating him and began opening the gate for them. However a new voice stopped the big man in his tracks.

"Oh, no, no, what's this? The gate isn't supposed to be opened to intruders." A lavender haired man in Shinigami robes and a sleeveless white haori. What got everyone shuddering more so, the two shinobi was the man's squinted eyes and almost mocking grin plastered on his pale face.

"Ichimaru Gin, Captain of the 3rd division. I didn't expect him to be here, we must retreat for now. None of you are ready to face a Captain." Yoruichi said

Meanwhile, said Captain seemed to not notice the black cat, his sights on the giant.

"The gate is not supposed to be opened." Ichimaru said, his tone sounded rather sarcastic and mocking just like his smile. Without warning, Jidanbo shouted in pain as his right arm was removed from his body. The giant kneeled and nearly lost his grip on the wall.

"B-but, I lost, as a guardian of the gate it is my duty to open it after I am defeated." Jidanbo tried to reason

"Oh?" Ichimaru slowly unsheathed a small dagger "Who told you that? If the guardian is defeated then….He dies."

Before Ichimaru could follow up on his threat, a pair of shuriken intercepted him, making the creepy man jump back a bit.

"What're you doing, Naruto? I got this." Ichigo said

"Sorry, Strawberry but you already had your fun, it's my turn now." Naruto reached for his Zanpakuto and rushed Ichimaru just as the Captain recovered his wits. **"**Cut them down, Shinku no Hayate.**"**

Naruto threw his right kunai towards the grinning Captain, Ichimaru leaned his head letting the kunai pass him. Naruto smirked as he disappeared in a gust of wind.

"What the…" Ichimaru felt a knee meet his neck. The sarcastic Captain skidded across the unforgiving ground however, with a back flip he easily recovered.

Ichimaru gave Naruto a foxy grin, feeling that it was interesting that one so young was able to catch him off guard.

"Odd Zanpakuto ya got there." Ichimaru commented

"You're one to talk with that dingy butter knife of yours." Naruto retorted, spinning his right kunai in his finger

"Oh how hurtful, you seem to have made him upset," Ichimaru pointed the tip of his blade at Naruto. "He didn't like that butter knife comment but, hey don't take my word for it. **Shoot to kill, Shinso."**

Without warning, Ichimaru's Zanpakuto lengthened at an incredibly fast pace. Naruto was caught off guard by the sudden attack and felt the blade go through his stomach. It would have gone through Jidanbo too had it not been for Orihime putting a barrier between the two so the former was only pushed back. Unfortunately, this meant that the gate was closing.

"Bye bye," Ichimaru waved at the group just as the gate closed.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group were checking over Naruto's injuries.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Orihime asked, concern evident in her voice.

"D-don't worry, I'm a fast healer. Just give me a couple minutes." True to his word, Naruto's wound healed over within a few minutes. The blonde shinobi let his eyes gaze across the group to make sure everyone was okay, that's when he noticed something was missing….a certain pervert was nowhere to be found.

"Guys…where the hell is my godfather?" Naruto's right eye twitched and his grip on Akuma no Kaze tightened when everyone was just as clueless as he was.

….

….

"ERO-SENNIN!"

_With Jiraiya_

Said pervert was currently atop one of the roofs in the Seireitei, his eyes gazing across the area. He had taken his chance to infiltrate when Naruto began his fight with the 3rd Division Captain. Jiraiya shook his head when he thought of his student. Honestly, he thought he taught him better when it came to infiltrating the enemies base, he should've left a clone behind to fight while they entered the area. But, it was too late for that now, it was time for his search to begin.

"_The first thing to do is find information on Rukia's whereabouts…or find a nice onsen…whichever comes first."_

With that thought, the self-proclaimed Super Pervert began his rescue mission. He just prayed that the kids will make it there safely. After all, there was no guarantee he would survive this little journey.


	8. 7 Sage and Wolf Clash: The 1st Battle!

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Zanpakuto/Techniques**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 7:**

Jiraiya's eyes roamed the palace-like terrain that was the Seireitei, the Sannin rubbed his temples; things just got a hell of a lot more complicated. Here he was, alone, with no back up to speak of, in uncharted territory, with an army of Shinigami surrounding the entire area. And what made things even worse? There were NO women to speak of as far as the eye could see…OH THE HORROR. Jiraiya shook his head; now was not the time for such thoughts, this was a rescue operation and damn it he needed to treat it like one. He turned his body around to face the lane filled with unconscious Shinigami that had an unfortunate run-in with the Toad Sennin. Jiraiya grabbed the first he saw by his collar and shook him awake, grinning when he heard the man groan.

"W-who are you?" The Shinigami asked making Jiraiya slap him.

"I'm the one asking the questions here; now tell me where Kuchiki Rukia is being held and I promise no more harm will come to you." Jiraiya stated

"W-why should I? you're just a Ryoka with no authority over me." The Shinigami smirked "Komamura-taicho will have your head, I guarantee-"

Jiraiya cut off the poor bastard with a chop to the neck, knocking him out cold. Jiraiya threw the man to the floor; an expression of minute anger evident on his face. Things were about to get much harder, much harder indeed.

_Naruto_

"Uh, what the hell?" Naruto muttered as he and the others stared at the house of one Shiba Kukaku or more specifically the sign being held up by two fists above the building, giving the building a bit of an intimidating if cheesy appearance.

"Oh so it's a pair of fists now." Yoruichi stated

…

The others shared their own thoughts before they headed inside.

(AN: Sorry I felt the whole Kukaku thing was pointless because it's the same as canon. Besides I know you just want to see Jiraiya fight.)

_Jiraiya_

Jiraiya hopped from roof to roof, he had been doing so for the last few hours now, taking out random officers and interrogating them only to get the whole 'Ryoka treatment' before having to move on. It took hundreds of men before he found one whom he was able to crack after he finally decided to get a little more threatening during the interrogation; thankfully Jiraiya was well-known for his interrogation skills back home for a reason. As Jiraiya slowly headed for Rukia's location, knocking out any and all shinigami that he passed by before they could sound the alarm, he briefly pondered the information that he gathered from the guy who finally squealed.

"_Ok, ok, I give! I'll tell you where Kuchiki Rukia is being held. She's in the Senzaikyū, the tall white tower in the center of the Seireitei._"

"_Why is whenever I'm looking for someone they always seem to be located right in the middle of an enemy stronghold?_" Jiraiya thought to himself before shaking off his thoughts.

As he continued to jump from rooftop to rooftop, Jiraiya began to feel as if something was amiss, like a little voice in the back of his head was telling him to be on full alert.

"_Whatever this feeling is, I may need to go all-out to face it."_

_Captain's meeting: a few hours later_

"I now call this Captain's Meeting to order!" Captain-Commander Yamamoto announced from his seat as the other captains stood in two rows going down between him. "Now Ichimaru-taicho, you claimed to have encountered the Ryoka earlier today."

"Correct, Yamamoto-soutaicho" Ichimaru replied in his normal cheerful tone despite the looks of disappointment he was getting from his peers.

"And you did not try to capture them!?" Soifon, Captain of the 2nd Division and Head of the Onimitsukido demanded.

"Now that's not really fair, those guys were strong especially Blondie and Carrot Top." Ichimaru retorted, his tone clearly filled with sarcasm

Byakuya visibly blinked at this, the action was not missed by the other captains. But before Yamamoto could ask the 6th Division Captain to identify the two a loud announcement was heard.

"**RYOKA ARE ATTEMPTING TO ENTER THE SEIREITEI, I REPEAT RYOKA ARE ATTEMPTING TO ENTER THE SEIREITEI."**

The announcement caused the captains to scramble for the exit. As he was leaving however, Hitsugaya Toshiro heard a conversation of interest between Ichimaru and 5th Division Captain, Aizen Sosuke.

"Saved by the emergency response system, how convenient." Aizen muttered as he stopped beside Ichimaru.

"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Ichimaru responded

"You know you won't get away with this." Aizen retorted

"Why don't you come out and say it? You don't trust me." Ichimaru shot back

"Just remember this... don't underestimate me Gin." With that the two captains walked off, leaving the youngest captain to ponder what he just heard.

_Naruto and Co._

"GUYS KEEP THE BARRIER TOGETHER, WE'RE ALMOST THROUGH!" Uryu shouted over the horrible noise the two barriers slamming into each other were making.

"EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, YOU ACTUALLY GOT CONTROL OVER THIS THING!" Ichigo shot back.

After meeting Kukaku, the group of teens and Yoruichi had convinced the fireworks specialist and head of the Shiba Clan to help them get into the Seireitei. At first, the group had difficulty trying to get the woman to even consider the idea of her associating with a bunch of brats trying to play Rescuer. Yoruichi was able to get her to help but she still didn't trust Ichigo's group and decided to send her younger brother, Ganju, to watch over the group and be their guide. Ichigo had protested due to a previous encounter with Ganju in Rukongai but was silenced by Kukaku and convinced by Ganju when he learned that his older brother had once been a shinigami who was apparently killed by his comrades and, as a result of meeting Ichigo, wanted to see what it really meant to be a shinigami, as he put it.

The group had decided to use Kukaku's Flower Crane Cannon to create enough force to bust through the Seireitei barrier however, both Ichigo and Naruto needed how to control their Reiryoku enough to keep the barrier's power balanced and considering how poorly Ichigo could control his power and how little experience Naruto had with using his own Reiryoku, it was much needed practice. Eventually, they got enough control for the technique and now we come to our current situation: breaking through the barrier.

"ALMOST... THERE" Naruto stated as he saw the barrier begin to strain.

*BOOM*

They did indeed get through… but the ball suddenly burst right before their eyes as they entered the Seireitei, which resulted in the group getting trapped in massive vortex of wind. The teenagers were told to stay together if this was to happen but they had not expected such a powerful force that was now keeping them apart. Acting on instinct, Naruto placed his hands in a cross seal.

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!" **Naruto shouted, creating twenty or so clones... that were immediately destroyed by the force of the winds. "DAMN!"

Uryu was about to get pushed out of the barrier with Chad going after him only to discover too late that the others weren't close enough to recover.

"CRAP, WE LOST CHAD AND URYU!" Ichigo shouted as he witnessed his comrades get thrown from the barrier and into the Seireitei.

"AAHH!"

Naruto and Ichigo turned and watched in horror as Orihime was getting pushed out.

"DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!" Naruto dived for the soft spoken girl despite the protests of Ichigo and Yoruichi, knowing full well Orihime wouldn't stand a chance on her own.

At that moment, the barrier exploded sending the others in random directions, Ichigo with Ganju who were both struggling against the force at which they were thrown and Naruto and an unconscious Orihime with Naruto using Kage Bunshin to cushion their fall.

_Jiraiya_

"Damn it," Jiraiya growled, he had witnessed the entire break-in and he knew that the group had all gotten separated.

The Sannin knew that Naruto would be okay as the kid had enough infiltration experience to know how to keep a low profile in enemy territory. No, what worried him were the other kids, they seemed competent sure, but they had never been in anything like this situation before. This was an army on par or even stronger than a shinobi village, they were in their terrain and had no idea how to navigate like a ninja. To see who he may need to help out the most, Jiraiya stretched his senses out, Naruto was with the girl so he had nothing to worry about with her, that Ichigo kid was as stubborn as his godson but was just as strong as he was and he had some backup apparently so he didn't need to help him, and Yoruichi was the most experienced of the group… and was also a cat so he was fine.

"Guess that leaves Sado and Uryu." Jiraiya turned towards the direction of the two teenagers and sped off, he only had so much precious time. If the Sannin had focused more on his own surroundings rather than the kids, he would have noticed a pair of figures behind him.

"Tetsuzaemon, is that the man who attacked our barracks?" A large man wearing a helmet and a Captain's Haori asked the man next to him wearing a pair of sunglasses.

"Yes Komamura-taicho, apparently he has been interrogating our men about Kuchiki Rukia." Iba responded

"The prisoner, for what purpose!?" Komamura demanded, Iba shook his head

"I'm not sure, should we capture him sir?" Iba asked, watching his captain ponder his request.

"No."

"B-but sir-"

"I will do it myself, you present your evidence to Yamamoto-soutaicho." Iba gaped at his captain's order

"Are you sure that's wise, taicho? You haven't been given permission to carry your Zanpakuto yet." Iba tried to reason, his captain had never been willing to disobey law; this man must have awakened something fierce in Komamura when the captain learned that the man had defeated the entirety of the 7th Division, save for himself and Iba.

"Yamamoto will declare war on these Ryoka, especially if they're as strong as that man. It would be best to take out the strongest of them now while he is still in sight. If I must be punished for what I am about to do then so be it... now Tetsuzaemon, hand me my sword." Komamura demanded

Iba reluctantly handed his captain's Zanpakuto to him, inwardly hoping his captain ends this quickly.

_Jiraiya_

Jiraiya's senses were going haywire as he continued to travel the rooftops; it was like a siren going off in his ear. He inwardly snorted; whoever this guy was who was following him he really wasn't so great at suppressing his emotions.

"_Kind of like a certain blonde gaki I know."_

Jiraiya continued on his way until he spotted a wide open plaza, perfect. Call him picky, but the Toad Sennin didn't believe fighting in such a narrow space would do especially with the jutsu he knew he'd be throwing around; this guy wasn't a pushover if his reiatsu was anything to go by. Jiraiya stopped in the middle of the clearing, smirking as he saw the shadow of his opponent appear above him.

"**Ninpo: Hari Jizo (Ninja Art: Needle Jizo)!" **Jiraiya's hair spiked and extended around him, forming a sturdy shield. He suddenly felt the pressure of a sword slam into him, although he didn't take any damage thanks to the shield. Instead, his hair absorbed the impact.

"You know, it's rude to attack someone when their back is turned." Jiraiya stated, his tone sounding as if he was talking about the weather.

"You have fine instincts, Ryoka. It's a shame you must be destroyed for the good of Soul Society." Komamura retorted, gripping his Zanpakuto tighter before jumping back a few feet while swinging his sword down.

"**Roar, Tenken!" **A giant arm in samurai armor, holding an exact replica of Komamura's Zanpakuto came down on Jiraiya's head. Komamura bowed his head slightly as the hit landed. "Please accept my forgiveness."

"Oh I forgive you; after all, I'm still here." Komamura spun around to see Jiraiya, arms crossed, with a smirk on his face.

"H-how?" Komamura stammered, he was sure he hit the man

"**Kawairimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique), **a shinobi's best friend." Jiraiya announced in his usual eccentric voice. "Now I think it's only fair if I introduced myself, prepare yourself, Shinigami for you are in the presence of the ultimate ladies' man, the Toad Sennin of Myobokuzen, one of the three legendary Sannin. Yes it is I, the Gallant shinobi, Jiraiya-sama!"

….

Komamura gaped from behind his helmet, was this man serious? Did he think this situation was all a big joke? The captain steeled himself; he would teach this man a lesson in humility.

"Well Ryoka, despite the utter arrogance wafting off of your little introduction, I shall allow you to know my name, the name of the one who will destroy you!" Jiraiya's expression immediately became serious when he felt the amount of reiatsu Komamura was releasing.

"I am the Captain of the 7th Division, Komamura Sajin and your executioner!"

"_Looks like I will need to go all out after all." _Jiraiya mused as he got into his taijutsu stance

Komamura swung his sword, once again materializing the giant arm. Jiraiya expertly dodged each swing, though just barely. While the captain clearly had far more experience than the Sannin that didn't mean Jiraiya was going to slow down at all as the Toad Sage had more than enough experience to handle the shinigami. Jiraiya jumped in the air to avoid a strike at his legs, speeding through hand seals as he was airborne.

"**Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!" **Jiraiya shot a stream of fire at the momentarily stunned captain.

"_Is that Kido, I've never seen anything like it._" Komamura thought quickly lifting his free hand, gather Reiryoku into it. **"Hado #32: Shakkaho (Way of Destruction #32: Red Fire Cannon)!"**

Komamura fired a ball of red energy to counter the fire jutsu. The collision caused both attacks to detonate on contact, however both fighters watched each other warily, waiting for the other to make the first move. Komamura swung his sword again, Jiraiya had already begun hand seals when he caught the slightest movement from the captain.

"**Doton: Doryuheki (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)!" **A giant wall of earth grew from the ground, taking the impact of Komamura's attack. To his shock, the captain discovered that the Sannin was no longer behind the wall.

"**Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)!" **Jiraiya released a dragon of pure fire, aiming for the surprised captain. However, Komamura was fast enough to dodge the attack if only barely. But that was all Jiraiya needed to catch the captain off-guard once again, Jiraiya shot through the fire, a ball of spiraling chakra in his hand, ready to take off the captain's head.

"**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)!" **Komamura was too stunned by the quick and unexpected maneuver from his opponent, that he couldn't fully dodge in time and his helmet was smashed to pieces and he himself was thrown backwards.

"Well, you're a fast one aren't you, Komamura-taicho? It seems that I underestimated you slightly due to your size." Jiraiya began his voice casual which was a stark contrast to the hardened look on his face. "I don't wish to kill you; all I want is to reach Kuchiki Rukia and stop this madness so please... stand aside."

"You think I would let you, an intruder, just walk right to where one of our prisoners is being held and free her? No, I don't think so, what Kuchiki did went against the natural order of things. She will be dealt a proper punishment, as will you." Komamura explained, picking himself up off the ground. Jiraiya's eye narrowed and he clenched his fist tightly.

"I don't know how things run here, but I don't believe giving up ones powers to a child who just wanted to protect his loved ones is a crime!" Jiraiya retorted heatedly "What you're doing to that poor girl isn't justice, it's more of a crime than giving up her powers for Ichigo ever was!"

"YOU DARE QUESTION THE LAW OF SOUL SOCIETY!? KNOW YOUR PLACE, RYOKA YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO QUESTION OUR DECISIONS!" Komamura shouted whirling around to a stunned Jiraiya to reveal a wolf-like face that caused Jiraiya to pause momentarily but the Sannin was quick to gather his wits.

"So you're saying she should've just let herself, that child, and his family to die just to uphold a damned rule? If that's so then, the way I see it, I have EVERY right to question your decisions, especially when that decision is more fucked up than the crime she's accused of. As far as I'm concerned you're no better than those hollows if that's how you think," he said very sternly.

If Komamura wasn't pissed off by Jiraiya's questioning before he certainly pissed off was now.

"YOU'VE SEALED YOUR FATE WITH THAT, RYOKA! Now I'll use all of my power to crush you and show you that your attempt to rescue the criminal was failed from the beginning! **Bankai, Kokujo Tengen Myo!**"

Jiraiya gaped at the amount of reiatsu coming off of the anthropomorphic wolf Shinigami, but that wasn't the part that made him sweat. No, it was the giant samurai creature behind Komamura and the really, really, big sword it was holding.

"_Well… shit. I guess I have no choice but to use it, after all."_

Komamura didn't give Jiraiya the chance to recover from his shock and swung immediately, surprising Jiraiya at its speed. The Sannin barely had enough time to extend his hair before he was slammed by the blade and shot through several buildings.

"You fought well, Jiraiya of the Sannin but you were outclassed by my Bankai. I hope you may find some peace in death and know that though you may have been dealt justice, you were indeed a worthy opponent." Komamura was about to deactivate his Bankai when he felt Jiraiya's power spike. His eyes widened when he saw a huge piece of a wall flying toward him. He instinctively sliced it in two with his Bankai, making dust and debris surround the area.

"You know, I'm disappointed that you'd underestimate me as severely as you have, Komamura-taicho." Jiraiya said as the smoke obscuring him from view began to clear away, his appearance causing the captain's eyes to widen in confusion, curiosity, and a small bit of fear. Jiraiya's eyes now sported toad-like eyes complete with horizontal pupils, the two red lines on his face had spread, going around his eyes. His nose was bulged a bit and now had warts and he had also grown a goatee. But what struck Komamura as odd were the two elderly toads on the Sennin's shoulders.

"W-what is this?" Komamura questioned, bringing his sword up to guard himself.

"I don't like using this, it takes away most of my good looks," Jiraiya began, getting into his taijutsu stance. "But, against you, Komamura-taicho I'll make an exception. This is my true power, Sage Mode!"


	9. 8 Two Men Down: The 1st Battle Ends!

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Zanpakuto/Techniques**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 8:**

"Ugh," The world was blurry; disorientation was evident as she tried to keep a steady head. She winced when she felt a throbbing pain in her shoulder; she reached up to discover that someone had bandaged her arm. The young woman was confused when she felt the soft, wet grass under her, this wasn't her bed was it? So where was she? Was she kidnapped by a giant robot? Maybe it used its laser vision to put her to sleep and-

"Glad to see you're awake, Orihime."

She sat up right at the familiar voice, looking over to find a familiar blonde haired young man smiling at her.

"N-Naruto, where am I?" Orihime asked groggily.

"In a forest in the Seireitei," Naruto answered. "I brought you here after our transportation blew up and everyone got separated. I'm no expert in medical ninjutsu like Baa-Chan but I have enough control to give basic first-aid so I was able to treat your arm."

"Oh."

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before he began speaking.

"I'm really sorry, Orihime. If I had been a little more careful you wouldn't have gotten hurt and-"

Naruto was suddenly interrupted by Orhime when she began waving her arms wildly.

"Oh, no, no, it wasn't your fault, Naruto! I'm such a klutz, I would've probably gotten injured anyways; besides if you weren't here to treat me, I would've suffered extreme blood loss... and then drop into a coma and die here." Orihime said in a rather hurried and somewhat comical tone.

"Right... anyways, now that you're awake, I'm afraid we need to get moving; I've been sensing someone strong tailing us for a while now." Naruto stated, his tone grim. "Chances are they'll catch us anyway; when they get close I want you to find somewhere to hide alright?"

"Um, right."

"Ok, then let's go."

The two teenagers began running along the forest at a rather sedate pace much to Naruto's ire. So eventually Naruto just put the smaller girl on his back while trying not to blush when her... assets... came pushing into his back even though Orihime herself was seemingly unaffected by the fact that she was sitting on Naruto's back.

"_Oh, this is all kinds of awkward. Thank kami, Sakura-chan isn't here or she would've killed me dead if she saw this__!" _Naruto thought to himself.

"**Aw, Naruto-chan is flustered from having a cute girl on his back."** Kurama teased.

"_Shut up, you mutated flee bag!" _Naruto retorted.

During Naruto's inner argument, a figure in the trees watched him intently and began moving at an ungodly speed to move ahead of the teenagers.

_With Ichigo_

"**Getsuga Tensho (Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!" **Ichigo shouted launching a white and blue crescent beam of Reiryoku at his bald-headed opponent, a man named Ikkaku Madarame, who barely dodged the assault.

"Not bad Kurosaki, you almost caught me there." Ikkaku stated with a cocky grin

"You're not too bad yourself Ikkaku. Now let's try this again, **GETSUGA TENSHO!**"

_With Uryu and Chad_

Both young men sat on a roof overlooking a plaza filled with unconscious Shinigami.

"Did you find anything about Rukia's whereabouts?" Uryu asked his quiet companion who shook his head negatively

"Did you?" Chad asked

"No and I don't think they will tell us anything anyway." Uryu stated "Let's keep moving,"

_With Jiraiya_

Komamura continued to stare at Jiraiya in both shock and curiosity; he had never seen such a transformation before. This man had just changed his physical appearance from human to a more amphibian like nature and his power skyrocketed as well.

"Well Komamura-taicho, are you ready for round two?" Jiraiya asked while slipping into his stance for Frog Kumite.

"Your Sage Mode may look impressive however, you shouldn't become over-confident. I haven't even begun to get serious yet." Komamura stated

"Then, let's continue." Jiraiya countered

"Careful Jiraiya-chan, this individual is like nothing you have fought before." Fukasaku, one of the elder toads, advised from Jiraiya's right shoulder.

"I can see why you had to call upon us fo rhelp. Keep a level head, Jiraiya-chan, and never lose focus." Shima, the second elder toad, advised from Jiraiya's left shoulder.

"Thank you, Ma, Pa," Jiraiya said in genuine gratitude. He knew very well that Komamura was no push over even with Sage Mode, he would need to stay on guard or he would very well lose his life.

Meanwhile, the wolf Shinigami was watching the conversation with slight awe. _"Toads who understand human speech, could there be others like me?"_

Noticing the captain's distraction, Jiraiya took his chance to strike. "Ma, Pa, get ready, **Senpo: Goemon (Sage Art: Goemon)!**"

Jiraiya, Shima, and Fukasaku released a stream of fire, wind, and oil from their mouths respectively, creating a giant wave of the three that went racing towards Komamura.

By this point, Komamura had come back to his senses, seeing the giant wave of steaming hot oil racing towards him he quickly thought of a counter measure.

"**Bakudo #81: Danku (Way of Binding #81: Splitting Void)!" **A transparent barrier formed in front of Komamura, blocking the jutsu completely.

"Damn," Jiraiya cursed, when he saw his jutsu had no effect. "Looks like I'm going to have to use something stronger."

The captain swung his sword downwards which in turn, made his Bankai swing it's gigantic sword in unison. Jiraiya's enhanced speed allowed him to maneuver around the sword as it continuously tried to squish him like a bug. Jiraiya hopped on a roof, avoiding the last strike before Komamura had to catch his breath. Jiraiya saw the opportunity and weaved through hand seals so fast that the captain saw only a blur.

"**Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!" **The senjutsu enhanced fireball collided, not with the captain, but with the giant samurai he was controlling.

"ARGH," Jiraiya smirked when he saw similar damage done to Komamura, his abdominal area was completely burned.

"I see, so I was right. Whatever damage your Bankai sustains you take similar damage and vice-versa am I right?" Jiraiya's almost smug tone made Komamura growl in frustration.

"_I've underestimated this Ryoka immensely; I have no choice, the after effects will render me unconscious but it will be by only chance."_

The wounded Shinigami stood at the ready, making Jiraiya stand on guard. "You are powerful Jiraiya-san that much is certain, however I cannot allow you to leave here alive."

Komamura's reiatsu spiked; Jiraiya narrowed his toad-like eyes and began to gather chakra in his palm.

Komamura raised his left hand and did something Jiraiya didn't expect. He began to chant.

"Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired!"

"Jiraiya-chan, you must hurry and create a counter!" Fukasaku warned, however, Jiraiya was already a step ahead with a spinning ball of…flaming chakra in his palm.

"Don't worry I'm already on it; when I say leave you go understand!" Jiraiya shouted as he saw the pink beams surround Komamura

"Right!" The toads answered in unison

Komamura saw the whole sequence and figured now was the time to fire.

"Prepare yourself Jiraiya-san, **Hado #91: Senju Koten Taiho (Way of Destruction #91: Thousand-Hand Bright Heaven Culling Spear)!"**

The pink spears melded together into a large pink beam of Reiryoku that sped towards the Sannin who had just finished his jutsu.

"To you to Komamura-taicho, **Senpo: Katon: Chou Oodama Rasengan (Sage Art: Fire Release: Super Big Ball Spiraling Sphere)!**"

A blood red spiraling ball of death surrounded by flames and larger than Jiraiya's body mass slammed into the powerful Kido spell. The powerful techniques fought each other on even ground with neither warrior holding back. Electric sparks began to show, giving off the warning signal that both techniques were going haywire.

"Ma, Pa, leave now!" Jiraiya shouted and both toads left immediately, a puff of smoke being the only sign that they were there at all. With the loss of the toads, Jiraiya dropped out of Sage mode and with it, he lost control of his jutsu.

*BOOM*

The resulting explosion sent both heavily damaged warriors in opposite directions, both slamming into several buildings before coming to a complete stop. Jiraiya's clothing was torn to shreds, the only thing that survived were his hitai-ate and his pants even if they were singed. His body was full of lacerations and bruises as well as a few broken bones. The 7th Division Captain was in a similar state, burns littered his body and patches of fur were clearly missing.

Jiraiya felt hazy, his head was spinning and he felt the urge to empty his stomach. He willed himself to his feet, limping his way toward the enemy who seemed to be unconscious but he had to be sure. As he approached the downed captain, he noticed the steady sounds of his breathing, making him sigh in relief.

"_So he's alive, good. I'd rather not have any bad blood with the dead." _The Sannin mused

"Y-you've beaten me," Jiraiya's eyes widened when he saw an angry Komamura looking him in the eye. "H-how dishonorable, d-defeated by a R-Ryoka..."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the superior tone, it reminded him too much of his old relationship with Orochimaru. "Look, neither me nor my team are here to start a war, we are only here to right a wrong. Kuchiki Rukia's execution seems too out of place, I've read up on your laws before coming here and the punishment doesn't fit the crime. At worst she should've gotten a few months of imprisonment and yet she was sentenced to death. Use your head, Komamura-san, something is out of place, is it not?"

"W-what are you s-saying?" Komamura demanded

"That there is something much bigger going on in the grand scheme of things," Jiraiya stated "I don't know what is going on here, but I will-"

Jiraiya's senses suddenly went haywire, he never got a chance to turn be before searing pain shot up his back.

"AUGH!" Jiraiya cried before falling to the ground unconscious but not before catching a glimpse of his attacker's cold, brown, eyes.

"A-Aizen-taicho," Komamura murmured as the 5th Division Captain stood over him. However he noticed something different in the man, his eyes did not have the warmth and kindness they normally displayed. Instead they appeared cold and…amused and the smile had shaped into a smug smirk. And to his shock, he noticed the Reiryoku gathering around Aizen's right hand which was targeting…Komamura himself.

"A-AIZEN, WHAT ARE YOU-"

"**Hado #4: Byakurai (Way of Destruction #4: Pale Lightning)"**

And Komamura's vision went black.

_The next day: Captain's meeting_

The remaining Captains all stood in their two rows while pondering over the news they had received from Unohana Retsu Captain of the 4th Division just a few moments ago. Yamamoto visibly put pressure on his cane in anger.

"I see..." he said, his voice slightly gruffer than normal. "And how is Komamura-taicho's condition? Will he be able to resume his duties soon?"

Unohana bowed her head for a few moments before she began to speak.

"Unfortunately, Komamura-taicho is in critical condition but I am confident he will make a full recovery. However, I believe he will not be able to return to active duty for a long while." She explained

"And the Ryoka?" the Captain-Commander asked

"The Ryoka is awake; although weak he was able to answer a few questions for us. His answers though vague, are quite interesting to say the least."

"Interesting how?" Kurotsuchi Mayuri rudely interrupted.

"I was getting to that, "Unohana snapped, though by her tone you couldn't tell. "His name is Jiraiya, the Gama Sennin as he calls himself, and his profession is something we haven't heard of in over a century from the Living World."

"Oh, and what may that be?" Hitsugaya asked with slight interest.

"He is a shinobi."

You could hear a pin drop as Unohana dropped the bomb as everyone was shocked into silence, and for good reason. The shinobi world was a closed off area guarded by the Spirit King himself, home to a powerful group of humans who, unlike the Quincy and others, numbered in the thousands and who often kept to their own leans. So why would they leave their territory?

"Shinobi?" Soi-Fon, the Captain of the 2nd Division, mumbled.

"I see, that is certainly not what I was expecting. Did he mention any other ninja in his group?" Aizen questioned, hiding his amusement rather well.

"Only his student, Uzumaki Naruto."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed, if that boy was here than that most certainly meant…

"Yamamoto-soutaicho, I have faced Uzumaki before I believe we should deal with him first, he may be the more problematic of his group." Byakuya stated, making the other captain's look at the noble in surprise knowing that he almost never spoke in a meeting unless asked to.

"Heh, why bother? The strongest of the Ryoka has been defeated, I don't they're that much of a challenge now." Zaraki Kenpachi murmured clearly disappointed

Unohana closed her eyes deep in thought, remembering her conversation with the Sannin. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

_Flashback_

Jiraiya stared at the 4th Division Captain trying to keep his game face despite the fact that he was practically knocked out of the fight for the time being. He was a bit bitter that he was caught off guard the way he was, it was certainly a blow to his pride, though he would admit that whoever attacked him was very good at going undetected. But getting back on track, the Gama Sennin had been answering Unohana's questions, albeit vaguely, in order to keep these guys pleased. After all, he was defenseless at the moment and any of these Shinigami could take him out at any time, best to stay on their good side, right? Jiraiya's thoughts were interrupted as he heard the healer ask him another question.

"By your age and skill you displayed during your fight with Komamura-taicho, I assume you are the strongest of the intruders am I right?" Unohana asked

Jiraiya's thoughts began to become centered on two certain individuals, one blonde, and one carrot top. The self-proclaimed super pervert began to chuckle, weakly of course due to his injuries, confusing the captain in front of him.

"Strongest in terms of skill, experience, and intelligence sure," Jiraiya began "However, in terms of determination, endurance, and sheer raw power well let's just say that I'm beaten out."

Unohana rose in eyebrow in confusion "And who might you be speaking of?"

"My student, Uzumaki Naruto a boy who has the guts and determination to never give up, his Will of Fire burns brighter than any other shinobi I've met in a long time." Jiraiya chuckled "And to top it off, he has the uncanny ability to inspire and befriend even his most deadly enemies."

The 4th Division Captain smiled, it seemed like this man cared a great deal for the boy if his praising was a testament to anything.

"And he's not the only one," Unohana looked at him "Kurosaki Ichigo, he may be inexperienced and brash at times but his will to protect the ones he loves and determination to get the job done is just as strong as my student's."

Unohana blinked in surprised pondering what this man just told him. "Thank you Jiraiya, I believe I'm done here. Please get some rest."

Unohana didn't miss the serious look Jiraiya gave her and almost faltered when she heard him speak.

"Don't underestimate those kids…or you'll be in for a very rude awakening."

_End Flashback_

Yamamoto pondered what he was just told; Jiraiya clearly had a lot of confidence in the boys he spoke so highly of… it would do well to take his warning to heart.

"Thank you, Unohana-taicho," Yamamoto began "Now listen, due to one of our captains being defeated, while using his Bankai no less, I am now declaring Full War-time release. All captains and vice-captains are now permitted to carry their Zanpakuto at all times."

Kenpachi grinned maliciously "_Things just got interesting."_

"Everyone," The Commander slammed his cane on the floor "Let us declare war on these Ryoka!"

_With Ichigo_

Ichigo, Ganju, and a member of the 4th Division, Yamada Hanataro who the other two had "captured" in order to escape a group of 11th Division members had taken to traveling in the sewers to avoid detection. Hanataro had told the two that there was a manhole that let straight to the Senzaikyu where Rukia was being held however, Ichigo was skeptical as to why his so-called enemy was helping them. So the cowardly Shinigami told them of how Rukia would speak to him while he was cleaning her cell, telling him tales of her time in the living world. Ichigo would have accepted that but the kid kept speaking and what he said next made Ichigo freeze.

"She told me about a young man she had met while in the living world, he would always poke fun at her height, they would argue constantly as if it was routine. Despite all that, she felt as though she was able to open her heart for the first time thanks to both him and his friends." Ichigo's eyes widened. "One day, Rukia broke down and told me that despite all he did for her, she can do nothing about it now because he died... and it was her fault that the young man was killed. I've never seen her so broken until that day."

Hanataro gave Ichigo a pleading look. "You're that young man aren't you, Ichigo? Please save Rukia, she doesn't deserve such a cruel fate."

Ichigo clenched his fists to the point they bled. She thought she was the guilty party?

"_Damn it midget, don't pin the blame on yourself. You changed my life for the better; you gave me the power to protect my family." _Ichigo's reiatsu began to slowly build despite the fact he wanted to remain undetected. Ichigo's face contorted in guilt, anger, but also in a greater detemination as well.

"_I promise you, Rukia... I won't let you die. I'll return the favor, ten-fold!"_

_With Naruto_

Naruto kept going through the forest casually, keeping his senses on alert in case of anything... while making sure not to drop Orihime whom he was carrying on his back.

While Naruto and Orihime were trying to get out of the forest, a shadowy figure shot out of the trees wielding a tanto-like blade. Too bad for the would-be assassin that Naruto's instincts were on high alert and the result ended up with the man being impaled in the head with a kunai, which killed him almost instantly. Naruto unsheathed his Zanpakuto after setting Orihime down who also got ready for battle.

"Okay the rest of you flunkies should come out; I can smell the bloodlust in the air." Naruto shouted which had the desired effect as he was suddenly surrounded by ninja-like men and women completely clothed in black all ready to strike.

"STAND DOWN," the warriors got out of their stances at the commanding tone. Naruto looked up to see a large man in a customized Shinigami uniform that signified his noble status. He was balding clearly and was stuffing his face similar to Choji only with a smug expression on his face.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, this man may have looked like a lazy slob but it contradicted how much power he held and it looked like he was the commander of the guys in black. He would need to be careful here.

"What do we have here, a couple of Ryoka in the 2nd Divisions territory? You kids got guts, I'll give you that much, but this is as far as you go." The man stated smugly unsheathing his Zanpakuto after finishing off his last snack.

"Oh really? And just who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded, keeping his tone as even as possible. The man smirked, pointing at himself.

"Omaeda Marechiyo, Vice-Captain of the 2nd Division and second-in-command of the Onimitsukido." Omaeda answered arrogantly "Now it would be rude for you two not to introduce yourselves as well."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Inoue Orihime."

"Pretty decent names, I'll be sure to put them on your tombstones." Omaeda grinned evilly "Kill them."

Instantly the Onimitsukido forces swarmed both teenagers, thinking that they had just got off an easy kill…poor bastards.

"**Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" **All the forces were blown away instantly as the powerful gust of wind flew in all directions. "If that's the best you Shinigami can do then we should be able to get Rukia out of here by the end of the week."

Marechiyo growled in annoyance, this damn gaki blew away his forces like they were nothing, looks like he was going to have to try harder.

"Alright if that's how it's gonna be than I'm gonna have to get my hands dirty." Marechiyo raised his Zanpakuto. **"Crush, Gagetsuburi!"**

The sword transformed into a giant ball and chain that the large man began to swing around with ease. "Let's see what you got human."

Naruto turned to his partner "Orihime,"

"Y-yes,"

"Keep Tsubaki on guard in case we get any intruders during the fight, I don't want you to get involved unless absolutely necessary okay?" Naruto instructed

"Okay in understand, **Tsubaki!**" The little fairy-like creature appeared next to his summoner, nodding towards Naruto.

"Alright then, let's get started," Naruto shrugged of his sleeveless coat, leaving him in only in his blood red t-shirt. **"****Cut them down, Shinku no Hayate****!"**


	10. 9 The 12th Division Captain

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kurama/Techniques**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 9:**

*CRASH*

Naruto flipped backwards off the tree branch just as the giant wrecking ball that was Marechiyo's shikai just as it crashed through said branch. Up in the large trees, Orihime was having a difficult time with the multiple Onimitsukido attacking her, having to switch constantly between her attack and defensive shields to keep herself alive which was straining her Reiryoku output.

"_I don't think I can keep this up!" _She thought in a panic.

Then before she could react, one of the sharp blades pierced through her shield and imbedded itself in her shoulder

"AAHH!" Orihime cried in pain

Naruto gnashed his teeth when he saw his partner in pain; he angrily launched one of his Zanpakuto in the direction of his new love interest and used his wind variant Hiraishin to appear in front of her assailant.

"**Kaze no Yaiba Kyouran (Wind Blade Fury)!" **The edge of Naruto's right kunai glowed white before launching a barrage of chakra blades at the Omnitsukido member cutting him severely.

Marechiyo swung his giant spiked ball of a Zanpakuto, slamming the distracted Naruto off the tree branch and to the ground below.

"URGH!" Naruto grit his teeth in pain when he felt his left forearm snap upon contact with the heavy ball.

"Naruto!" Orihime yelled.

"Don't worry, I've had worse happen to me," Naruto said, clenching his now broken arm now unable to hold one of his Zanpakuto. "Just try to stay back, keep yourself safe."

"R-right," She responded uncertainly as she watched her new friend struggle to stand.

The second division vice-captain laughed mockingly at both teenagers, approaching them slowly while casually throwing the spiked ball up and down as if it was a basketball.

"You brats don't stand a chance against me," Marechiyo shunpoed in front of a startled Naruto and grabbed his face roughly. "And guess what; even if you somehow managed to beat me you don't have a prayer against my captain. You might as well let me finish you here and save you both some pain and misery."

Naruto's response was to spit angrily in the obese vice-captain's face, catching him in the eye

"Ew, you little brat! I'll rip you to pieces." Marechiyo shouted, rubbing his eye giving Naruto the opening he needed.

He hurriedly gathered chakra in his hand and shoved it into the arrogant Shinigami's gut.

"**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)!" **The fat bastard spun out uncontrollably and broke through several trees until he stopped in an open field unconscious.

Both Naruto and Orihime looked on in disbelieve, did this guy really just lose with one attack?

"_And a weak one at that, I put barely any power in that Rasengan." _Naruto added mentally

"Well that was…interesting." The red-headed beauty said.

"More like a complete waste of time." Naruto stated dryly "How the hell did he even make vice-captain?"

"Well he did break your arm so he's not totally pathetic." Orihime stated innocently

Naruto looked away in both anger and embarrassment and resealed Shinku no Hayate. He then grabbed Orihime and shot back off into the trees, leaving an unconscious idiot behind along with most of the Omnitsukido which was now unconcious, minus 50 or so members who Naruto had killed. Little did the two know that if they had stayed for a few more seconds they would've caught the sight of a petite and stern looking woman grabbing her vice-captain and dragging him away back to their barracks.

"_That blonde brat must be Uzumaki Naruto, interesting. I'll deal with him personally; he'll pay for making the Omnitsukido look like a joke." _Soifon thought angrily

_With Uryu and Chad_

The gentle giant of Mexican descent chucked the unconscious Shinigami casually in a random direction as he sighed in frustration. He and Uryu had been going around interrogating the non-seated officer that they had come across about Rukia and so far they all had the same answer, 'We are not inclined to answer you, Ryoka scum'. And every time their answer was met with either a fist or arrow; it was safe to say that both the boys were getting angry with these idiotic beings of the dead. Chad looked in the sky and noticed the sun was setting; they would have to find a place to hide out for the night.

"We should get moving, the later it gets the harder it'll be for us to navigate." Uryu said, getting Chad's attention

"Right,"

The two teens ran along the roofs of the Seireitei, being careful not to get caught by the patrolling Shinigami on the ground who were headed to the decimated area the two were coming from. Once the area was clear the two dropped down in order to find a place to stay the night. However, while trying to find somewhere to hide out, Uryu felt his senses go on high alert and he wasn't one to not trust his instincts. His eyes searched the area, they were in a narrow corridor and the fact that it was night didn't help his vision much.

Suddenly, a long, pink, and fleshy rope with a sharp spear at the end shot out of the darkness.

"LOOK OUT!" Uryu shouted, jumping to a roof for safety while the unfortunate Chad was grazed on his left arm

"URGH!" Chad gritted his teeth as he felt the searing pain and an odd feeling of numbness shoot through his appendage. _"W-what's going on?"_

"My, my, you're an odd one. To be able to withstand my poison is quite a feat for a human." Chad and Uryu watched as a man with a captain's haori, a strange headpiece, and a HUGE amount of make-up over his body, approached them with a calculating and borderline psychotic gleam in his eye. Behind the man was a rather beautiful woman with purple hair in a braid wearing a more provocative version of the Shinigami uniform with a vice-captain badge tied to her arm.

Both young men were on edge, to think that both a captain and vice-captain would confront them like this and in the dead of night no less. To both of them, this was the worst case scenario and now was not a matter of whether they would fight but how they would survive. A tense silence ensued as the opposite parties began to stare each other down, Uryu and the captain keeping their sights on one another in particular.

"Who the hell are you?" Uryu said, breaking the silence

The captain kept his creepy gaze on the young Quincy for a few seconds before a familiar gleam came into his eyes making our heroes shudder.

"So it seems a Quincy is still alive, interesting." The captain deduced, rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist who just got a new subject to play with. (A statement which couldn't be anymore accurate.)

"Unfortunately, I've already analyzed and dissected your species and abilities so you are of no concern." The captain then set his sights on Chad who was standing up shakily due to the poison still in his system. "However, your friend over there is definitely not an ordinary human. I was watching you two fight off my division and his ability to coat his arm in a liquid metal for combat is indeed unus-"

The captain was cut off from his ramblings by and arrow of reishi grazing his cheek.

"Enough of your crap, now tell us who you are and what did you mean by 'dissected your species'!?" Uryu's calm façade was breaking; his anger towards this man couldn't be more obvious.

"Tch, very well," The man began to draw his Zanpakuto, resulting in Uryu aiming his bow and Chad's arm transforming. "I am the Captain of the 12th Division and head of Research and Development, Kurotsuchi Mayuri. And if the young man with the strange arm would come with me, I can kill you Quincy and be on my way with a new test subject."

"I am-" the woman next to him began before being back-handed by the scientist

"Shut up, Nemu and speak only when spoken to!" Mayuri ordered harshly

"Y-yes, Mayuri-sama," Nemu responded while rubbing her abused cheek

Both boys didn't take kindly to seeing a woman being treated in such a manner, enemy or not, and proceeded to launch an arrow and a blast of Reiryoku at their enemy. Mayuri used shunpo to avoid the joint attack much to the two's frustration.

"Hm, so you are able to concentrate Reiryoku in your fist to launch a high concentration of said energy. You will make a very special experiment indeed; I can already imagine drilling into that skull of yours to see what makes you tick." Mayuri said, not fazed by the reiatsu pouring out of the angered and disgusted teenagers before him. In response, the maniac released his own reiatsu while holding his sword in a downwards position,**"Claw out, Ashisogi Jizo"**

The Zanpakuto began to morph in shape until it took the form of a gold-colored, deformed trident with three serpentine blades which were all connected at the base of a baby's head which looked to be praying. To both boy's, the blade was disturbing in every sense of the word.

Before either could react, Mayuri was between them, stabbing at Uryu who was barely able to move out of the way of the deadly looking blades. Chad went to try and help, but was intercepted by the abused woman, Nemu who punched the giant hard enough to send him flying in the opposite direction but not hard enough to hurt him. Chad was surprised at the woman's actions; he didn't think one who was being beaten by the man Uryu was struggling to fight would defend said man so easily.

"Why are you stopping me?" Chad couldn't help but ask, Nemu didn't look like she was the fighting type and Chad, being the gentle man that he was couldn't bring himself to try to harm her.

"You are an important specimen for Mayuri-sama; it would be a shame for you to be killed trying to help the Quincy." Nemu explained emotionlessly, getting a look of confusion from the dark-skinned giant.

"But he physically harmed you, so why do you still help him?" Chad questioned, he just couldn't understand what was going through this women's head.

"It is my duty as Mayuri-sama's vice captain and artificial daughter to carry out his orders." Nemu answered

"Artificial?"

"Mayuri-sama created me using cells from his body. I am loyal only to him and besides, technically I cannot die as he can simply make me new again."

Chad had to give it to the homicidal researcher, despite his disgusting and psychotic nature; he truly was a genius if Nemu was any testament.

"It doesn't matter whether you're artificial or not, you're still living and you shouldn't follow someone so blindly if they treat you like trash." Chad retorted in a cool tone

"Regardless, I can't let you pass," Nemu said defiantl.y

"Then I'm sorry," Before the purple-haired woman knew what happened, Chad struck her hard in the neck effectively knocking her out before racing towards Uryu and Mayuri.

Said Quincy was currently having the worst time of his life; while Chad talked to Nemu, he tried fighting off the 12th Division Captain alone and was holding his own rather well at first until Mayuri brought up some rather disturbing news. It was revealed that this man was responsible for not only experimenting on man Quincy but he had been the one to end the life of Uryu's grandfather who was also his sensei. After that, Uryu's anger got the better of him and that resulted in him getting ran through by the trident Zanpakuto and the blade's abilities didn't help the situation. Ashisogi Jizo was able to shut of neural receptors to the brain which resulted in paralysis to the inflicted area but on a more gruesome scale, the pain receptors are completely unaffected which meant that the victim would be in pain while being unable to move. Mayuri towered over the paralyzed Uryu with a sick grin on his face and his Zanpakuto raised above his head.

"Well I must say, you were far more interesting than the other Quincy I have dealt with. Too bad you have to die here."

Uryu didn't have a look of anger or horror on his face instead he was…smirking?

"That's where you're wrong."

*BANG*

The surprised captain was sent flying into the wall, courtesy of a _very_ hard punch to the jaw from Chad.

"You won't be killing anyone today," The mostly gentle man stated **"El Directo (One Strike of the Giant)!**

A blast of green Reiryoku slammed into the already downed captain, gathering debris around the area. Uryu stared at his friend in awe, that attack was the most concentrated he had seen of anything Chad had thrown so far.

"Chad, what exactly was that?" Uryu asked

"…Would you believe me if I told you I just thought of it on the spot?" Chad questioned

In awkward silence ensued,

"…You can't be serious."

Before Chad could say anything else, a familiar cackle echoed throughout the area and both boys turned to see a shocking sight. Mayuri was walking towards them with only one arm and he didn't even looked bothered or affected by that fact, he just continued to laugh maniacally.

"_What the hell is he!?" _Was the mutual thought of the two teenagers.

Mayuri paused for a second, glaring at both enemies before bringing his sword in front of him.

"Bankai," the baby's face on the blade opened both eyes and it's mouth which began seeping purple gas. The surrounding area began to darken and quiver as the reiatsu coming off the captain became denser.

"_What is this, ban-what?" _Uryu thought, trying to move to no avail.

"This is bad," Chad said, sweating "His power is increasing even more than before."

As Chad finished his sentence, a giant caterpillar with a golden baby head and arms wearing a red cape appeared behind Mayuri. The grotesque creature began seeping purple gas from its mouth and let out a loud whine as its master cackled in triumph.

"**Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo!"**

"W-what the hell is that? I thought knowing the Zanpakuto's name released its full power." Uryu shouted in shock

"How naïve of you, this is Bankai, every Zanpakuto has two release forms. The form you see now is the true power of my Zanpakuto and it will crush you." Mayuri announced as his Zanpakuto raced towards its enemy.

Uryu looked down at his glove, pondering his next move with clear hesitance on his face. He glanced at Chad briefly before speaking.

"Chad, I'm going to need a second, I have a way to win but I'm going to need you to hold that thing off for now. Can you do that while I prepare?" Uryu asked

"Don't worry I've got your back. Just hurry, my new attack won't be able to hold that thing off for long." With that said, Chad jumped in front of his friend, concentrating all of his power into his arm. **"El Directo (One Strike of the Giant)!"**

An even bigger blast than before shot out of his fist, covering the entire face of Mayuri's Bankai. Chad grit his teeth and dug his shoes into the ground while keeping his attack going. Unfortunately, it looked like the Zanpakuto was going to win the struggle. Chad's attack was beginning to shrink and the teen was beginning to become exhausted but he still kept trying to keep the attack going.

"You're wasting your time boy," Mayuri said, seeing Chad's struggle "The power of a Bankai increases a Shinigami's power ten times over, you can't win."

The researcher's claim fell on deaf ears as Chad continued to pump out more power until… something peculiar happened. Chad's arm began to change in shape, something the giant himself didn't notice as he was too focused on his current task but Uryu noticed. First, it changed from its current form to a black and magenta color with a longer shoulder extension that was split into three sections. It than changed again to a type of arm shield briefly, making Chad's power strong enough to stop the approaching Bankai in its tracks. With the enemy stopped for the moment, Chad's arm returned to the previous state.

He looked at his new arm in shock as he hadn't noticed the change till now. He didn't have enough time to ponder the change as he felt Uryu's power spike. Chad turned around to see his friend's form had changed and he had a high concentration of reishi coming from his shoulder.

"U-Uryu,"

"I don't know what happened to your arm Chad," The energy Uryu was exhibiting flared. "We can figure that out later, in the meantime allow me to finish him off."

A new bow formed from Uryu's form and a solid arrow from in his hand. He launched it far quicker than Chad had ever seen, the resulting explosion completely destroying the giant Bankai. When the smoke cleared, Uryu and Chad were met with a very damaged Mayuri with a giant hole in his chest.

"So what now?" Chad asked.

"We finish hi-"

Before Uryu could finish his sentence, Mayuri stabbed himself with his broken sword. The act shocked both teens who were about to scream about the guy doing himself in until they saw him turn…into liquid?

"_I commend you both for being able to defeat me." _The puddle that was Mayuri said in amusement.

Uryu was prepared to launch another arrow until the puddle spoke again. "_Don't bother, in this state I'm immune to damage and I can't damage you until my form is restored so we can call it a draw for now. Better luck next time, Quincy."_

The puddle seemed through the wall, leaving both boys alone and angry.

"Bastard," Uryu mumbled before falling to his knees as the familiar feeling of the poison returned. "Damn."

"Are you alright?" Chad asked, lifting his friend to his feet.

"I'll be fine; we've got to keep moving." Uryu said, trying to hide his pain

"Wait."

Both looked back to see Nemu holding a bottle.

"Please take this; it's a cure to the poison in your system." Nemu stated

"Why are you helping us, better yet why should we trust you?" Uryu demanded with narrowed eyes.

"Whether you use the cure is completely up to you. Consider it a thank you for not killing my father." Nemu said, handing the bottle to Chad who handed it to his friend.

Uryu looked at the bottle for a moment before sighing and downing the entire bottle.

"You shouldn't thank me; I was aiming for his head when I launched that arrow. If it weren't for the poison I would have succeeded."

With that said, both boys began to walk away leaving a surprised Nemu behind.

_Later_

Chad looked concerned as he saw Uryu's pale face. Ever since they defeated the 12th Division Captain, the Quincy's powers were depleting rapidly to the point where he felt like a normal human.

"Hey Chad," said giant looked at the weakened Uryu. "Wouldn't it be hilarious…if we rescued Rukia? I'm sure…Ichigo…would be pissed."

"Yeah, that sounds like him." Chad said with a small chuckle as they approached the top of the staircase that led to Rukia's cell, having gotten the girl's location from Nemu who gave it to them just as they left her. As they made it to the top, they were met with a sight that made their blood run cold.

A purple-haired, dark-skinned captain with a visor over his eyes blocked their path.

"I'm sorry," he said lowly "but I cannot allow you to go further, now rest." The man said as he drew his blade. Chad let go of Uryu and rushed the man while summoning the power of his right arm. Unfortunately…he was too slow.

"**Cry, Suzumushi,"**

_With Ichigo_

The carrot top hero stopped in his tracks as he felt both Chad's and Uryu's reiatsu disappear.

"Oh no," He said

"Ichigo, you ok?" Ganju asked when he noticed Ichigo's behavior

"…It's nothing, we should keep moving."

Ichigo's pace began to pick up a bit as he headed for the Senzaikyu, never noticing the giant man with a sick grin staring down at him.


	11. 10 Heroes vs Captains: The Blade

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kurama/Techniques**

"_This" is thinking_

**Chapter 10:**

Ichigo continued to sprint along the narrow path leading towards the Senzaikyu. After taking out Renji (with ease I might add) and promising the redhead that he would save Rukia from her unfair fate, The Shinigami Substitute wasted no time and rushing towards the white tower. However, despite his steel will, Ichigo couldn't fight off his feeling of foreboding as he came closer to his destination and the bloodlust in the air became more and more prominent. Behind him, Ganju and Hanataro were having similar feelings.

"Ichigo," Ganju called

"What is it? ...Don't tell me you're quitting now?" Ichigo began to complain

"No you idiot! That said, my gut is saying we should turn back for now. Something just feels wrong here." Ganju said

Ichigo was about to give a particularly nasty retort at hearing this when he suddenly felt an intense amount of force slam into his shoulders almost bringing him to his knees while his two companions were forced to the ground.

"_T-this Reiatsu, it's suffocating!" _Ganju thought in panic.

"_N-no, n-not him!" _Hanataro thought, the Fourth Division member visibly frightened upon recognizing this reiatsu.

Ichigo forced his head skyward to try and find the source of malevolence.

He found it.

On the roof was a man, tall and savage looking, he was clearly a captain if his ragged looking haori was anything to go by. His hair was up in spikes tipped with small bells and he had an eye patch over his right eye. His most glaring feature would be the scar going along his patched eye and the bloodthirsty grin that spoke of insanity.

"So I finally found you, Kurosaki Ichigo." The man said, staring down at the teen.

"Who are you and how do you know who I am." Ichigo demanded

The man grinned at the aggressiveness of Ichigo's demeanor.

"Every captain of the Gotei 13 has heard of you, kid and my third seat spoke highly of you as well."

Ichigo's scowl deepened as he sized up his latest and possibly most dangerous opponent up.

"So that would make you Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the 11th Division." Ichigo stated, releasing Zangetsu from his bindings and taking a basic guard stance.

"Observant aren't you? Ikkaku spoke highly of your power so don't disappoint me." Kenpachi unsheathed a visibly damaged Zanpakuto with rough and serrated edges due to it's poor care.

Ichigo screwed one eye shut when he heard an ear piercing screech that nearly threw him off balance.

"_What the hell is that!?" _Ichigo shouted mentally

"**It's his blade,"**

Ichigo looked down at his Zanpakuto with interest

"**His Zanpakuto is crying, I'd say due to mistreatment from it's master if I had to guess." **Zangetsu said

Ichigo grit his teeth with disgust at the very thought of such abuse. Both he and Naruto spent hours speaking with their spirits upon Naruto's suggestion to build a stronger bond between Zanpakuto and master. They had both learned very quickly that a Zanpakuto was not just a weapon but a living being with genuine feelings and emotions. To see a supposed partner being treated like this, it made him want to puke.

Kenpachi eyes widened when he felt Ichigo's Reiryoku spike immensely making the sadomasochist laugh insanely.

"Well you're a strong one huh? Alright kid let's have a battle to the death!" Kenpachi laughed maniacally

"Your sword is crying, why is that?" Ichigo asked calmly as his power continued to rise

"Crying? Why would I care about something like that?" Kenpachi said with indifference

Ichigo's response was to rush the man and slash him across his chest leaving a bloody gash, surprising his current enemy, and exciting him.

"You're a fool," Ichigo raised Zangetsu high above his head and channeled Reiryoku to the blade. "You abuse your Zanpakuto, your partner who has been with you for decades. Even those of lower rank have more respect for their swords your third seat included!"

Kenpachi looked at Ichigo with a blank expression for what seemed like forever before finally speaking.

"Partner?" The captain looked at his sword, "Are you fucking serious? A Zanpakuto is nothing but a mere weapon, a weapon to fight and slaughter opponents."

Ichigo swore he felt Zangetsu vibrate in what appeared to be anger but he couldn't blame his partner. The carrot top wasn't faring much better when it came to controlling his increasing anger and disgust.

"You sick bastard! Fine then, if you feel like you can fight me and my partner alone…" Ichigo swung Zangetsu, releasing a mighty Getsuga that swallowed the captain in a bright light. "Then prove it."

Atop the roof that Kenpachi had jumped down from, a little pink haired girl wearing a Shinigami uniform and a Vice-Captain badge on her arm was watching the battle with keen interest.

"_Ken-chan is gonna have fun with him."_

_Naruto_

After the defeat of the 2nd Division Vice-Captain, Naruto and Orihime decided to take a small rest to replenish their reserves and to get back into hiding. The blonde Shinobi wanted to get to Rukia's cell as fast as possible especially since, according to Hayate, Jiraiya had already been brought down and is now in the hands of the enemy. The information that his godfather was in trouble didn't sit well with Naruto and he proceeded to drag poor Orihime across the whole forest that they were currently in, despite the fact that his other arm had already been healed, and her exhaustion showed.

Orihime tried to keep on a brave front and continuously told Naruto that she was okay… until she all but collapsed on top of the blonde. This led to Naruto setting up their current camp and despite his calm exterior; the busty redhead could tell that he was very anxious.

She gave him a worried glance and a comforting hand on his shoulder. The touch jolted Naruto out of his inner turmoil and he gazed at the girl in front of him.

"Don't worry so much, I'm sure Jiraiya-sama will be ok." Orihime assured.

"Yeah I know, but I can't help but worry about that old perv. He's the only family I still have." Naruto said solemnly.

Orihime gave Naruto a small smile before she spoke.

"We'll win and we will get rescue all of our friends, I know we will," she said reassuringly to which Naruto sighed.

"Yeah..." Naruto said before he turned to face Orihime and saw that her expression had turned a bit solemn as well.

Before Naruto could question Orihime, however, his senses suddenly went haywire as the ninja, without warning, grabbed Orihime and jumped high into the trees much to the girl's shock and surprise. Out of nowhere, multiple star-shaped blades pierced the spot where both teens had been resting. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the blades and pulled Orihime closer to him.

"_Those aren't shuriken; the shape and density are off. Sure as hell are just as efficient."_

Naruto heard a condescending chuckle from the trees above which was unmistakably female. Both teens caught the sight of a petite woman wearing a modified uniform which looked to be meant for close combat along with the captain's haori. Despite her clearly beautiful and feminine appearance, her smirk and narrowed eyes made her out like a hunter who has caught her pray.

"You have incredible reflexes to be able to dodge my anken so easily. I guess the stories of you shinobi aren't exaggerated, after all." The woman said smugly.

Naruto pushed Orihime behind him and slipped into his taijutsu stance while sizing up his opponent.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded making the woman frown.

"It's common courtesy to state your own name before asking for someone to introduce themselves." She retorted.

"Don't give me that crap, I know you bastards have my godfather and he must have told you about me. So I'll ask you again, who the hell are you!?"Naruto demanded once more.

"Very well, Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto grunted in annoyance. "I'm the 2nd Division Captain and head of the Omnitsukido, you may call me Soifon."

Naruto narrowed his eyes when he heard Soifon's rank; he glanced at the red haired girl behind him before turning back to his enemy.

"Orihime, leave," Naruto ordered much to the girls shock.

"What!? But I can-"

"No you can't," Naruto said, cutting her off. "This woman is a captain, I'm gonna have to put all my focus on this fight. You being here might distract me and I don't need that now."

"But Naruto-"

"Go meet up with the others, I'll be just fine." He assured despite the fact that he might have extreme difficulties with this fight and he knew it.

"Please be careful," was all she said before sprinting off in the opposite direction, trying to find an exit to the forest.

Once Naruto felt that she was at a safe enough distance, his eyes narrowed at Soifon and before she could blink, the blonde shinobi had closed the distance between them. The captain barely had enough time to bring her guard up to block the sneak attack and growled in anger when she saw the smirk across the genin's face.

"Let's just cut the pleasantries and just go to the part where we beat the crap out of each other until we're bloody and broken."

Soifon met his smirk with one of her own and pushed back against him, forcing them into a stalemate.

"Quick and to the point, it's too bad that we're enemies, otherwise I wouldn't mind having you on my squad." Soifon said.

"Sorry but I'll have to pass, I've already got an allegiance." Naruto retorted pointing towards his headband.

"Pity."

And the fight begun with both fighters trading various blows, sticking to hand to hand combat for the time being and as the fight wore on Naruto's inexperience began to show. For every punch to the gut, face, or chest he delivered, Soifon countered with double the amount of hits and added the occasional kick to the face. Eventually the two broke apart and injuries on both sides were apparent with Soifon sporting a few scratches and bruises along with a busted lip. Naruto got the worst of it as his coat was torn a bit and his face was bloody plus his arms were extremely bruised.

"We just started and you're already severely injured." Soifon said while looking at the teenager who was breathing hard. "I can't believe you were able to defeat my soldiers and vice-captain. After I kill you I'm increasing their training regime, this is pathetic."

Naruto just chuckled at her words as his wounds began healing before they were gone in a matter of seconds, much to Soifon's complete shock. Naruto's breathing returned to normal and he casually cracked his neck while looking at the stunned captain with a cheesy grin on his face.

"H-how," Soifon stuttered in shock.

"Let's just say I'm not your average human." Naruto answered vaguely, not wanting to mention Kurama. "Now I think I should start getting serious before I do end up getting myself killed."

Naruto grabbed his Zanpakuto and slowly began to unsheathe it, **"**Cut them down, Shinku no Hayate**!"**

The familiar dual three pronged kunai appeared from both the katana and its sheath. Soifon quirked in eyebrow, giving the shikai a once over then, much to the surprise of the young shinobi, she began clapping.

"Something you find amusing with my partner?" Naruto growled, holding his small blades in a cross formation

"Not at all," Soifon responded. "For one so young to be able to unleash their shikai is quite the feat indeed. But, that's not what truly impresses me no; it's the form your Zanpakuto takes."

"Form?" Naruto questioned

"It's small, easily concealable, meant for quick movements and assassination. Just like what I'd expect from a shinobi from those nations." Soifon grabbed the hilt of her own Zanpakuto from behind her, slowly pulling out her blade. "Let's see just how well you can use a weapon like that."

Without warning, the petite captain appeared in front of Naruto with her weapon poised for attack. Naruto countered, using he left kunai to jam his enemy's weapon between the prongs and pulled back with his right in order to gut the woman. Soifon broke the counter and jumped back, missing most of the attack but still gained a small nick on her stomach. The woman let out a low growl and kicked the young shinobi in the head so fast, he didn't realize he cut through a tenth of the forestry until he came crashing into the tree head first.

Naruto stood unsteadily, his vision was blurred by the blood running down his face from behind his headband.

"Is that it?" Naruto looked up to see Soifon standing directly in front of him, a cocky smirk clear on her beautiful face. "I expected more from someone like you."

The young shinobi's response to her statement?

…

"**Bunshin Daibakuha (Great Clone Explosion)!" **'Naruto' exploded in a fiery blaze, knocking Soifon off her feet and sending her flying back into the forest.

The real Naruto who had been watching from the trees as his clone was given the business couldn't help but sigh in frustration similar to Shikamaru when he found everything troublesome.

"_Man that woman is powerful, definitely strong enough that she could give the old pervert an issue if he wasn't paying attention." _Naruto jumped down to the ground making sure to stay cautious. "_No more games now, time to get serious."_

Naruto's instincts shot up and he barely ducked under the blade that was meant to take off his head. The blonde genin tried to kick Soifon only for her to use his leg to shift her body enough to knee him in the face.

Naruto yelped in pain when he felt his nose snap, satisfying the small captain who flip –kicked him in the chin and to the ground.

"Ow," Naruto whined as he rubbed his now sore chin from his place on the ground. "Damn it, what the hell is your foot made out of?!"

Naruto felt immense killing intent and looked at the noticeably injured woman who had lost her haori and most of her upper robes leaving her in a singed, form fitting, battle outfit.

"Play times over, you little brat! You're going to die now!" Soifon held her Zanpakuto in a reverse grip in front of her face. **"Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!"**

Naruto flinched at the jump in reiatsu coming off of his opponent and watched in fascination as the Chinese dao blade that was her sealed Zanpakuto had now changed form. Soifon now wielded a black and gold gauntlet that covered her forearm with a small chain that linked to the stinger-like blade on her middle finger.

Seeing the new weapon and feeling the immense increase in power made Naruto think of one phrase.

"_Oh, fuck me..."_

_With Ichigo_

While Naruto was struggling against the powerful stealth using captain, Ichigo was having his own difficulties with the inhuman sociopath that was Zaraki Kenpachi now that his eye patch had been torn off. No matter how much Ichigo cut, stabbed, or sent the occasional Getsuga, the man just wouldn't go down. At the same time, Kenpachi would constantly counter everything the carrot top teenager would throw at him, leaving poor Ichigo severely wounded and bloody not to mention close to exhaustion.

"I've got you now, Kurosaki!" Kenpachi shouted as he rushed the substitute with a raised blade ready to strike him down.

Ichigo watched the approaching captain in a panic as he realized he was too close to try and fire off another Getsuga without the backlash injuring him too and that's when an idea struck him.

"_I hope this works!" _Ichigo thought as he began gathering Reiryoku within Zangetsu as if he were going to use his Getsuga Tensho. Instead, he kept the power within his sword and grabbed it by its tattered cloth and swung it like a flail while slowly releasing the power…until.

"**Getsuga Tentate (Moon-Fang Shield)!" **A vortex of Reiryoku surrounded Ichigo as Kenpachi swung his sword. The impact had a surprising effect; Kenpachi was violently thrown back from the defensive maneuver, bouncing on the unforgiving ground before coming to a painful stop.

"**That was an impressive move, Ichigo. I congratulate for being able to think on your feet so impressively." **Zangetsu said.

"_Thank you, Zangetsu I appreciate the compliment. But it's not done yet, I think I'll have to use _that _technique to end it."_

Zangetsu narrowed his eyes at his master which Ichigo tried to ignore and instead began to gather his power once again.

"**You haven't mastered the control needed for it, this could damage you as well." **Zangetsu warned

"_Maybe not yet, but Jiraiya thought it would be useful and I will trust the man's judgment." _Ichigo stated, thinking back to his training.

**Flashback**

"HEYAH!" Ichigo grunted as his blade collided with the three pronged kunai that was Naruto's Zanpakuto. Both boys have been training for the last few days in preparation for their trip into the Soul Society and so far Ichigo was having trouble keeping up with the much more experienced blonde shinobi.

"I'm impressed Ichigo, your growth rate is even higher than mine. I'm sure you can fight circles around what you were a week ago." Naruto said.

"Yeah maybe so but I'm still behind you in terms of skill." Ichigo said, looking a bit crestfallen at his current level of power.

"You shouldn't let that bother you, Ichigo." A new voice cut in making both boys break away as they saw Jiraiya approaching them. "Naruto's been fighting like this for a few years now; it's only natural that his skill level will be above yours."

Jiraiya turned to his godson and pointed towards Kisuke who had his Zanpakuto released. "Go train with Urahara for a bit, gaki. I think I'll give Ichigo here some pointers."

"Uh sure, I guess." And with that Naruto was off

Jiraiya then turned to the confused carrot head with a smile.

"Now then Ichigo, I want to test something with you." Jiraiya said

"And that would be?" Ichigo questioned with his usual scowl.

"I want to show you a jutsu of mine that I believe will do great in your arsenal." Jiraiya stated with a grin

This caught Ichigo off guard for a split second, weren't jutsus strictly meant for chakra users? How the hell would he be able to pull one off with just Reiryoku?

As if sensing the question that was about to leave the kid's mouth, the toad Sannin put his hand up, halting Ichigo.

"This is a special jutsu that I hold dear to me, it needs no hand seals, and Kisuke was intrigued by its use and wanted to see how you would fair in using it. I think it might be possible for you to learn even without any ki to make chakra and I sent Naruto away to Kisuke for Reiryoku training and a special technique that Kisuke thinks will do him some good. so I can put my focus all on you here." Jiraiya explained

"Ok... but that doesn't explain how you plan to teach me this jutsu." Ichigo said, clearly irritated.

Jiraiya sighed and reached into his pocket, throwing an object at Ichigo who caught it easily.

"….A water balloon?"

The scowling teen looked at Jiraiya as if he was the stupidest man on Earth while the Sannin just grinned at him.

"The first step…is rotation."

**End Flashback**

"_I wasn't able to fully master it yet…but I think I can put it to good use here!" _Ichigo's Reiryoku became extremely dense as he continued to build his power and a blue-white aura surrounded him.

Kenpachi, who had recovered from Ichigo's last maneuver, grinned maliciously as he saw the boy's aura. "That's right kid, gather all that power and give me a good fight!"

"I'll give you more than that you psychotic bastard!" Ichigo began to gather his energy into his palm and much to the surprise of the captain, began to slowly move in a spiral pattern.

"_Come on, first step: rotation, second step: power, final step: maintaining the previous foundations! I can do this…no…I WILL do this. For Naruto, Jiraiya, Orihime, Uryu, Chad, Ganju, Hanataro." _The sphere in his hand began to take a more solid form of white Reiryoku. "_Zangetsu….and Rukia."_

The sphere's shape solidified completely and within the core of the ball was a noticeable crescent moon.

Kenpachi sprinted towards the prone teen like a raging bull ready to stomp out whatever was in it's way.

"It's been fun Ichigo, but now it's time to end this!"

"Then it will be you who loses!"

Ichigo sprinted at the giant captain, Zangetsu in his left hand and his one and only jutsu in his right. The auras of both warriors surrounded them as they collided in which Kenpachi managed to cut Ichigo deeply in the torso, but despite the potentially mortal wound, the substitute Shinigami didn't miss a beat. With a mighty roar Ichigo slashed Kenpachi across the chest before twirling from the momentum of his first hit and aimed at the man's torso for the last…

**Mikazuki Rasengan (Crescent Moon Spiraling Sphere)!"**

The jutsu hit home, grinding into Kenpachi and launching several feet away into a wall with a sickening crunch knocking the man out cold. Ichigo panted heavily before the adrenaline in his body left him and he fell to the ground as well, letting the darkness claim him.

Unknown to both warriors, a certain were-cat had been watching the entire battle and was shocked to see Ichigo use a shinobi technique but shook it off none the less. Yoruichi hopped down next to the unconscious teen and couldn't help but smile down at him.

"_You've come a long way kid, but now things are going to be much harder for you. But not to worry I'll make a real fighter out of both you boys yet."_

Yoruichi's thoughts were cut off by a massive explosion, making her sigh in annoyance.

"Seems like Naruto and Soifon are having a grand old time." She muttered, looking down at Ichigo. "I better get you to a safe area and then go help your friend out."

She quickly grabbed Ichigo and shunpoed away from the area but a single thought went through her head as she did so.

"_That is if Soifon doesn't blow him to bits first."_


	12. 11 Heroes vs Captains: The Bee

"This" is talking

"**This" is Zanpakuto/Kurama**

"_This" is thinking/location_

"This" is Techniques

**Chapter 11:**

He had to keep going, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how utterly exhausted he was or how much blood he was losing, he had to keep moving and think of a new strategy. His vision was starting to blur and he was running low on chakra but he couldn't stop lest the crazed captain finish the job that she had begun with her Shikai about 30 minutes ago.

"_Man this sucks" _Naruto thought, frantically jumping from tree to tree while trying to keep himself hidden. _"Thank goodness for my reflexes, otherwise I would've been finished by now."_

The young Shinobi was breathing heavily while holding his side which had a noticeable butterfly mark over a nasty looking gash. In fact, the same mark could be seen on multiple areas of his body, three on his right leg, two on his left, a reverse pattern on both arms, on his lower back, his cheek, and in the middle of his chest.

Yes, thank goodness for reflexes indeed.

After Soifon explained the ability of her Zanpakuto, **Nigeki Kessatsu (Death in Two Steps)**, Naruto was quick to begin the game of cat and mouse that Soifon had set up, dodging as many strikes as he could and praying that he didn't get hit twice in the same area. For a while, he was able to keep pace and expertly dodge most of her strikes. But as time wore on, the young shinobi's inexperience began to show and he was struck in various areas much to his enemy's delight. It got to a point where Naruto didn't want to risk close combat with his much smaller Zanpakuto and began to retreat and think up a better strategy. However, Soifon was far too persistent as any assassin should be.

"Got you!"

"CRAP!"

Naruto's injuries kept him from being quick enough to dodge and he took another stab to the back.

"Damn..it," Naruto spat blood as he fell out of the trees and unto the dirt ground below.

"I'll say this much, you're a slippery brat, that much is certain." Soifon said her usual scowl still present as she began to slowly approach the wounded blonde ninja. "It's too bad you will likely be executed again as a soul after I kill you here. No need for an enemy like yourself to enjoy your afterlife in your present state. Such a waste it is, talent like yours is rare especially for one so young."

Naruto said nothing as he was using most of his effort to try and stay conscious rather than listen to the arrogant beauty babble.

"_I can't win like this, I need more power and I need it now!" _Naruto grit his teeth as he tried to sit up while watching Soifon continue to approach him slowly still talking.

"**Need my help do you?"**

"_Kurama?"_

"**Don't use that name, I haven't given you the right to call me that, brat!"**

"_It's your name so I'm gonna use it fuzzy."_

"**Urgh, fine do what you want, I don't have time for these petty arguments. We will both die if you don't use my power now!"**

"_How do I know this isn't a trick to possess me again?_

"**I will not allow that, Naruto." **Hayate stated, making Naruto jump in surprise. **"Now that I am awake I can monitor Kurama and make sure he does not send his consciousness through his chakra. However this will not matter if you go beyond your current limit of control so do be careful.**

Naruto gave a mental nod towards his spirit as Kurama's chakra began to steadily flow into his system. At the same moment, Soifon took off in a sprint ready to finish off the young Shinobi.

"Now you die, Ryoka scum!" She shouted as she came upon Naruto and thrust her stinger forward in order to stab the butterfly mark on his chest.

"**Not happening."**

The assassin's eyes widened at the deeper and slightly inhuman voice that came from Naruto. Her slip of concentration was enough for the blonde ninja to grab the captain's wrist just as the stinger made contact with…a red energy cloak?

"_W-what's going on?" _Soifon looked up at the taller boy and let out a gasp of surprise and slight fear as she gazed into the boy's eyes, no longer the oceanic blue she saw before. His eyes were now a deep crimson red and gained feral-like slit pupils. She noticed that his whisker marks were more defined and his canines had grown along with his nails that now resembled claws. On top of all the changes she noticed, the biggest was the red cloak in the shape of a fox surrounding the boy with two swishing tails.

Naruto ignored the burning sensation that came with the use of Kurama's chakra in favor of enjoying the look of shock and fear etched into Soifon's face.

"**Are you scared, little bee?" **Naruto added pressure to her wrist, allowing the chakra to burn her flesh due to it's corrosive nature, causing her to wince in severe pain. **"Don't be, we haven't even gotten started yet."**

Much to Soifon's shock, she began to notice that her Zanpakuto's effects were steadily disappearing from Naruto's flesh.

"H-how?"

"**I used this power to burn the skin off with your stupid markings." **Naruto answered.

"Impossible, they should only disappear when I will them to!" Soifon shouted in bewilderment.

"**You obviously have never faced a Jinchuuriki, impossible isn't exactly part of our vocabulary."** Naruto glared at the arrogant assassin before instantly willing a Rasengan to appear. **"Now, let's get started."**

Soifon, upon hearing the word Jinchuriki, felt her eyes widen in horror, knowing full well what that word is.

"_A Jinchuriki...?! He's a shinobi with one of the nine Biju sealed within him?! And which Biju is it?! Fuck, this is bad, I have to.."_

She never got to finish her thought as Naruto shoved his attack into her abdomen, causing the area to explode.

Round 2 had begun.

_Ichigo..._

Ichigo was hurting all over; he cursed the psycho who put him in this pain with every fiber of his being. He noticed that he wasn't still bleeding profusely, good. He was no longer outside but instead appeared to be in a hideout of some sort which was better than being out in the open for any random Shinigami to take him out. But the question that plagued him still remained running rampant in his head.

Just where in the hell was he?

"So you have awoken, that's good, I thought you would take longer." Ichigo turned his head, with effort, to face the familiar black cat who had spoken to him. "You are quite the stubborn one, Ichigo."

"Yoruichi," Ichigo muttered weakly while trying to sit up, only to grunt in pain while his bandages wrapped around his torso became soaked with blood. "Damn it."

"Careful, you idiot!" Yoruichi cried, noticing the re-opened wound. "You haven't fully recovered yet and were almost cut in half, you need rest."

Ichigo reluctantly laid back down while the cat-lady went past him in order to fetch something, he assumed anyway.

"In fact if I weren't for this thing, we may not be talking right now."

Ichigo's eyes widened when he noticed the broken white mask, reminiscent of a Hollow's mask in Yoruichi's paw.

"This mask absorbed most of the impact when Zaraki struck you. I found it in your clothing." Yoruichi said

"How's that possible, last I remember Hanataro threw that thing in the sewer system right after my fight with Renji. So how the hell was it on me?" Ichigo had taken the mask away from the cat to examine it not noticing the piercing gaze Yoruichi was giving it. "Well I did consider it a good luck charm, I guess I'll hang on to it now."

"Ichigo, give that mask to me." Yoruichi ordered, Ichigo clearly wanted to protest and opened his mouth to do so. "NOW!"

"Y-yes sir," Ichigo stuttered, handing over the mask.

"_I could be wrong, but it's better to be safe than sorry." _The former captain thought

"So how did I get here anyway?" Ichigo asked, cutting Yoruichi out of her musings

"That's a stupid question, I carried you of course."

"B-but you're a cat, I doubt I'm light enough for you to carry."

"Oh, that's right you've never seen my true form have you? Well I guess there's no reason to skip it hidden anymore." Yoruichi began to glow, blinding the young carrot top. When the light died down Ichigo was treated to the sight of a naked dark-skinned woman with long purple hair, curvaceous figure, and a rack that would make Jiraiya glare at Ichigo in envy. So obviously, Ichigo would have the reaction any normal male would have when seeing such a wonderful sight that was a nude woman.

"W-WHAT THE HELL!? YOU'RE A GIRL!...AND YOU'RE NAKED! WOULD WE PLEASE PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

…Scratch that, this was Ichigo after all.

Yoruichi smiled in amusement at Ichigo's reaction as she began to dress herself in her normal clothing.

"Well, this is a surprise; I would've thought a healthy young man like you would have seen a naked woman before." She mused

"S-shut up, I'm not like that." Ichigo muttered, keeping his head turned away from the woman lest he be teased even more.

Yoruichi grinned at this and was about to tease Ichigo again but was cut off by a loud explosion in the distance

"What the hell was that!?" Ichigo exclaimed getting to his feet despite his injuries.

"No question, that's definitely Soifon and Naruto." The former captain stated, turning to Ichigo who looked ready to rush to his friend's aid. "You stay here and rest; I'll go get Naruto out of there before he gets himself killed."

With that said, she vanished with a Shunpo, leaving a rather miffed substitute behind.

_Naruto..._

"_This is ridiculous; all I can do is dodge!"_

And dodge she did, over and over again. Naruto was not giving Soifon a chance to breath and continued a relentless assault on the stealth master, chasing her throughout the forest with his chakra cloak arms and continuous wind jutsu to keep her on her toes. It was only thanks to her experience that she hadn't been hit too severely. That particular fact had triggered Naruto's frustration which was easy to do in his Kyuubified state and caused him to sprout two more tails for a grand total of four and even with Hayate trying to balance his mind with the fox's and was becoming harder and harder to stay conscious and not let Kurama take over.

"**You're pitiful Naruto; let me finish her for you." **Kurama demanded

"_I won't let you, just stay inside!" _Naruto's mental battle was beginning to show on his face as he began visibly sweating and his eyes kept going in and out of focus. Soifon saw the opportunity and quickly acted on it.

"Bakudo #61: Rikujokoro (Way of Binding #61: Six Bars of Light)!" Six light pillars circled Naruto and slammed into his mid-section, binding his arms and holding him in place. Soifon wasted no time and stabbed Naruto once in the chest, forming her signature mark.

"_DAMMIT, THIS IS BAD!"_

"**LET ME FIGHT HER, BOY, OR WE ALL DIE!"**

"IT'S OVER, UZUMAKI! NIGEKI KES-"

***ROOAARR***

Soifon was blown off her feet by a mighty inhuman roar so powerful, it created a mighty shockwave. She looked up in shock to see a completely red eyed Naruto beginning to change once more. His skin began to tear away from his flesh, burning into the cloak and creating a black aura around Naruto while his blood began mixing into the corrosive energy that was Kurama's chakra.

"W-what is he?" Soifon muttered surprising herself with her genuine fear that she was feeling at the moment. Naruto now resembled a miniature Kurama with completely white eyes, a red and black body, and five tails swaying behind him with bone fragments over lapping the tails.

Soifon stood shocked at the boy's appearance for only another second before jumping back into action.

"I don't know what you did to yourself, but it won't save you!" Soifon went for a strike to the back and Naruto made no move to stop her. She stabbed once, or at least she attempted to. "W-what the hell?"

The now solidified cloak acted as a shield and blocked the stinger from piercing his flesh. Kyuubi-Naruto gave her an evil-looking grin before back handing her away, burning her flesh severely while she bounced against the unforgiving earth. Soifon wasn't able to recover before Naruto swiped at her again, extending his arms and attempted to crush her. Soon a bloody and broken Soifon was forced to use Shunpo constantly just to keep herself from getting killed by this rampaging beast.

She bided her time, waiting for Naruto's defenses to be down. Once Naruto pulled back his arms she took her chance. _"I hope this works!"_

"Rijujokoro!" Once again the six pillars held Naruto in place, only this time, Naruto could struggle against them.

"Not enough huh, well try this, Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku (Locking Bondage Stripes)!" A reiryoku chain wrapped around Naruto making his struggle less destructive but not enough to completely immobilize him.

"_Damn it, he's tough in this state but that should hold him long enough." _Soifon kept her eyes focused on the struggling Naruto as she began to build her reiryoku in order to finish off the Jinchuuriki.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens." Her aura grew around her as she held her palms to her side while she gathered energy.

Just as Naruto broke out of his bondage, Soifon threw her palms out in front of her. "Hado #73: Soren Sokasui (Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down)!

A powerful blast of blue reiryoku shot at Naruto who had no time to react as the blast engulfed him in a wave of blue fire. Soifon smirked in victory, sure that she was able to finish off Naruto.

"_Now that, that's over with, I can go rest before going after-"_

***ROAR***

"WHAT!?"

A giant fist smashed into the captain from to smoke created by the assault earlier sending her flying into the forestry…or what was left of it. For good measure, Naruto launched a small Imari (Menacing Ball) after the assassin, blowing up the surrounding area and kicking up debris that covered the majority of the battlefield.

Silence defined the field now, all signs of life besides the raging Jinchuuriki was non-existent.

Inside his mindscape, Naruto couldn't help the scowl that appeared on his face when he saw the outcome of the battle. His Zanpakuto was able to keep him conscious but unable to keep Kurama's influence from taking over his master's body. So both Hayate and Naruto were forced to watch the display with neither being pleased after watching the Biju's brutality.

"**That was unnecessary, Kurama." **Hayate said with disdain clear in his voice.

The giant fox scoffed at his 'roommate' then turned to his host. **"She was the enemy and she threatened us. I don't care for your purpose of coming to the Soul Society but it was a stupid idea. Despite your choice, I won't allow us to be destroyed because of your mistakes. I did what was necessary, no more no less."**

Naruto sighed in annoyance while scratching his head. "I guess you have a point but I'd rather keep the deaths here to a minimum. The last thing I need is to start a war between the Shinobi and Shinigami if these guys wanted retribution for killing one of their captain... if the deaths of this psychos isn't already reason enough."

Kurama gave Naruto a grunt, showing that he understood…although weather he cared or not was debatable. **"Fine, whatever, I've had my fill for today, you're back in control. Go away and don't bother me for a while brat."**

Naruto paused for a moment before gaping at the giant fox. "Wait I thought you wanted control so you could be free. What's with the sudden change of heart?"

"**It's because of me," **Naruto turned to see Hayate leaning against the cage that held Kurama with a smirk on his face, arms crossed. **"As long as I'm around, he can never have full control over your body or escape because I can simply push him back with my power whenever I need to."**

The young Shinobi gave his Zanpakuto a deadpan stare. "Ok if you're able to do that, then why the hell didn't you push him back immediately when he took over!?"

"**There are a couple of reasons for that." **Hayate began, getting off of the bars and approaching his master. **"The first is because although I can push him back, it takes time and is difficult. He is still the strongest Biju and lives up to the title to a tee. The second reason is…"**

Naruto frown at his Zanpakuto, confusion was clear on his face as the spirit hesitated.

"**I allowed him to have some freedom."**

Naruto's anger became evident as his power rose. "Are you nuts!? He's nothing but an uncontrollable beast who wants to kill mankind. Why would you let him roam free!?"

"**Because he has feelings too, Naruto." **Naruto closed his mouth at that and allowed his Zanpakuto to continue. **"Think about it Naruto, I wasn't just birthed from your power alone a bit of it does come from Kurama therefore I know things about him and why his hates humans so much. Kurama is not evil but misunderstood…"**

"**ENOUGH Hayate!" **Both Zanpakuto and master turned to see Kurama more angry than Naruto had ever seen him to the point where Naruto saw something truly shocking…

Tears.

Kurama, the powerful Kyuubi no Yoko, the strongest of the Biju was beginning to cry.

Regret and confusion welled within the young ninja who slowly began to approach the cage. "…Kurama,"

"**LEAVE!"**

With that, Naruto was thrown out of his mindscape. Hayate shook his head but kept his face impassive as he stared up at the fox.

"**Kurama, you must let go of this hatred within your heart."**

"…"

Hayate sighed and went off to meditate, leaving the subject for another day.

_Battlefield_

The first thing Naruto became aware of was the fact that his body burned like a bitch. The third degree burns on his body made it hard to move, his shirt was all but destroyed and his Zanpakuto was resealed and in its scabbard next to him. He also noticed that he was nearly completely drained of chakra. He was exhausted but undeniably relieved, or would've been if he was suddenly filled with a large amount of guilt for what he just did in his mind. At least the battle was over…right?

"BAN-KAI!"

Wrong.

Naruto looked on his shock as a pillar of light broke through the massive dust ball in the atmosphere making everything clear as day and allowing the ninja to see the beaten and bloody form of Soifon with her Zanpakuto once again in a different shape: a golden missile launcher.

"Jakuho Raikoben!" Soifon shouted though she didn't seem all too happy with her weapon.

"You've got to me kidding? How did you survive that? What the hell are you made of?" Naruto demanded weakly, barely able to stand himself up on his shaky legs. "And just what the hell kind of weapon is that?"

"Shut up!" She snapped angrily "You made me go as far as to release my Bankai, something I despise because it goes against my code as an Omnitsukido. And the fact that it was a mere child that was able to push me this far, it's disgraceful!"

She aimed the giant missile at Naruto, her reiatsu spiking to a level that had the already weak Shinobi on his knees.

"I'LL BLOW YOU AWAY!" She fired, the heavy recoil blowing her in the opposite direction out of the ruined forest and draining the captain to near empty leaving her unconscious the moment she fired.

Meanwhile, Naruto could only watch as the missile got closer with each passing second. He tried to think desperately of a way to block the attack somehow lest he get blown to bits.

"_Wait that's it, and I have just enough power left to use it!" _Naruto struggled to get himself upright, stretching his arm in front of him, palm wide. _"I hope this works!"_

"Bakudo #81: Danku (Splitting Void)!" A translucent barrier appeared in front of Naruto just as the missile was about to impact.

*BOOM*

The barrier absorbed most of the impact; however the shockwave blew Naruto off his feet and into the air at high velocity. Unable to stop himself, he closed his eyes tight waiting for the impact with the ground…but it never came. He weakly opened his eyes to see the face of a smirking Yoruichi who began saying something but he didn't hear it as he allowed unconsciousness to claim him.

_Elsewhere_

"Kuchiki-Taicho, there have been reports of a Ryoka and a member of the 4th Division going towards the Senzaikyuu."

"Oh, is that so?" Byakuya stood up and grabbed his Zanpakuto, heading for the door. "I'll investigate this matter personally."


	13. 12 Standoff at the Senzaikyū

**A/N: This is the last of HurricanGohan94's chapters; all chapter after this point are mine and mine alone... though HurricaneGohan will be adding input from time-to-time. **

**Also this is probably the most heavily edited of the orignal chapters, especially with the last scene so PLEASE look at it as it is a major change from the original chapter that will have a major effect on the plot.**

**One last thing... after this chapter it will naturally take longer to update this story.**

"This" is talking

"**This" is Kurama/Zanpakuto**

"_This" is thinking_

"This" is Techniques

**Chapter 12:**

Naruto was in a daze, groaning as he slowly lifted himself off of the water-filled ground in his mind.

"_Great, I'm back in here again."_

He sighed in annoyance and glanced around his surroundings, noticing that for the first time, he wasn't anywhere near Kurama's cage. He just shrugged, it was for the best at the moment, and he doubted the Biju wanted anything to do with him right now.

"**You'd be right, Naruto."** Naruto turned around to find Hayate in a meditative position; clearly he was waiting for his master to awaken. **"Kurama needed some time to himself, so I had you brought over to me when you re-entered your mindscape."**

Naruto sighed with a great amount of guilty weighing over his shoulders, remembering what he had said to the fox. He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't curious and confused, though more than anything he was filled with a massive amount of guilt, when he saw that he drove Biju to shed tears, and he felt like he needed answers now.

"Hayate," Naruto began, gaining the Zanpakuto's attention. "I wanted to ask you something. (he sighs) What happened to Kurama before he ended up inside me? Since you were birthed from Kurama's chakra as well as mine, I figured you had the answers I was looking for."

Hayate crossed his arms and stared at his master for what seemed like hours before finally nodding and motioned for Naruto to have a seat.

"**Well... to answer the questions you have, I will have to go back to the beginning, to the Biju's creation."** Naruto's eyes widened as his Zanpakuto began his story,** "Many eons ago before the era of Shinobi began, there was a creature of destruction and malice that tore the continent it inhabited apart. It destroyed everything in it's path, crushing mountains, turning the forestry into wastelands, and killing a countless number of humans."**

Naruto was enraptured by the story and terrified at the prospect of such a creature before the era of Shinobi. "What the hell was this thing?"

Hayate paused, staring straight into Naruto's eyes, as if to emphasize the seriousness of what he was about to say.

**"This creature was known as the Juubi."**

"J-juubi!? But I thought there were only nine Biju!" Naruto said, dumbfounded.

"**The Juubi is the progenitor of the nine beasts you're familiar with today." **Hayate stated **"A single man is responsible for this. This man is the reason why you shinobi have ninjutsu today. He fought the Juubi in combat aided with sacred eyes that gave him great powers, the Rinnegan. He won and sealed the beast within himself, becoming the first Jinchuuriki."**

Naruto was shocked at this, "The first Jinchuuriki?! Who was this guy?!"

"**His name was Otsutsuki Hagoromo, The Rikudo Sennin.**" Hayate said to his awestruck master.

"Rikudo Sennin huh? But how does that explain the nine biju?" Naruto asked

"**As the sage neared the end of his life, he used his Rinnegan to split the Juubi's chakra into nine separate pieces which took physical shape, forming the Biju. He then used his powers to seal the husk of the Juubi under tons of rock and rubble before sending it into the Earth's orbit, creating the moon. Before passing on, he gave each biju a name two of which you already have knowledge of."**

"Shukaku and Kurama, right?" Hayate nodded at Naruto's question, "So what about the others? What are their names?"

Hayate smirked. **"That is a question you should be asking them not me."**

"Why?"

"**But getting back on track," **Hayate began, ignoring Naruto. **"The Biju all loved the Sage dearly, being their creator, but none more than Kurama. Over the years since the death of the Sage, however, Kurama began to hate humans, with that hatred growing the years, as humans tried time and time to take control of him and use him as a weapon. Because of his hatred and the power he wielded people began to call him a demon out of fear,**" Hayate continued to explain.

At hearing this Naruto turned his head away, unable to look Hayate in the eye for a moment. He regretted saying what he did to Kurama just moments after the words left his mouth; now the young ninja felt as if a burning katana had just pierced his hear and was twisted inside of him.

Hayate opened his mouth to continue his explanation but was stopped by Naruto who spoke first.

"I've heard enough, Hayate. You don't have to continue. (he sighs) I know this might not be the best time but can you take me to Kurama right now? There's something I need to do," Naruto asked.

Apparently Hayate decided to honor Naruto's request as they both found themselves standing right in front of Kurama's cage. Naturally the Biju was less than pleased to see Naruto.

"**You have a lot of nerve coming back,**** brat. Why are you...?**" Kurama hissed before his voiced trailed off. The reason for this was because the Biju noticed that Naruto was looking away from him, as if he refused to make contact with him.

Then Naruto did the LAST thing the Biju expected: he got on his knees and bowed his head down. Kurama was left speechless, not knowing what to say as Naruto began.

"Kurama... I'm sorry. I really screwed up there; it wasn't in my place to call you those things. I never thought of you as a demon... I just was so pissed at what Hayate did I decided took it out on you. Now I'm no better than Mizuki and those like him who called me a demon; and to think after being labelled all my life I just went and did the same here," Naruto said with a saddened tone.

Kurama was just shocked by this; in the time Kurama has been no one, not one soul, has ever APOLOGIZED to him for something they did or said to him. He wasn't even sure if any of this was real when Naruto finally stood up and finally looked at Kurama continued speaking.

"I understand if you still hate me for calling you those things; honestly, I hate myself for going that low. If you choose to never forgive me for the rest eternity then I can accept that. I just wanted you to hear my apology," Naruto pointed out.

After what seemed like a long time of silence Kurama finally regathered his wits and, after being in deep thought for what seemed like another long while, spoke to Naruto.

"**Leave, Naruto... I need to collect my thoughts,**" he said in a surprisingly calm tone. **  
**

Naruto flashed a slight smile at hearing this.

"Sure thing, Kurama," Naruto said before he suddenly vanished in a flash of light, leaving Kurama alone as Hayate had left at the start of the conversation, leaving Kurama to his thoughts.

While he wasn't sure what he would do Kurama did come to one conclusion

"_**It'll take more than just pretty words for me to actually forgive you, Naruto, never mind trust you... but... since you're the first to go this far... it's a start,**_" Kurama mused to himself before he decided to take one of his many naps.

_Outside Naruto's Mindscape..._

Yoruichi and a slightly recovered Ichigo were waiting patiently for the blonde shinobi to awaken. Both were surprised when Naruto's injuries began to heal at a rapid rate, he barely even had a single scratch on him at this point. It made Ichigo a bit peeved as he barely had recovered compared to his new friend. However, Ichigo was more interested in Naruto's battle than his injuries leading into the current conversation.

"Bankai huh? So is that an ability shared by all Captains?" Ichigo questioned, never taking his eyes off of Naruto

"Not necessarily, in normal circumstances a Shinigami must have achieved Bankai before they're eligible to be promoted to Captain. Zaraki was one exception to the rule, he was promoted because he managed to kill the previous 11th Division Captain with witnesses and has yet to even learn his Zanpakuto's name." Yoruichi explained

Ichigo nodded but his mood became much more somber, his bangs shadowing his eyes. "So your old apprentice managed to beat Naruto with that? Just what the hell kind of power are we dealing with, how can I beat any other Captain when they have a trump card like that!?"

Yoruichi gave the young man an understanding smile; it seems the shinobi taught him a bit of humility. "For starters, Naruto didn't lose his fight; he fought Soifon to a draw, same as how you fought Kenpachi Zaraki to a standstill. And remember, Ichigo, Bankai is the final level of a Shinigami's Zanpakuto. It's understandable that you feel the way you do, after all it normally takes years to achieve it."

If it was possible, Ichigo became even more depressed. Even without Rukia's life being on the line he didn't have years to train.

"However," Yoruichi began, making Ichigo's head shoot to her direction making sure to give the woman his full attention. "Kisuke developed a method years ago that allowed him to achieve Bankai in three days. The method forcibly unleashes your Zanpakuto spirit from it's inner world, skipping a large portion of the training normally needed for Bankai. This method is dangerous because if you do not subjugate the spirit within the three day limit, you could do permanent damage to your soul."

Ichigo jumped to his feet, ignoring the slight pain leftover from his injuries. "Damn the risks, if it means that we have even a slight chance of winning and rescuing Rukia, I'll tear my soul apart!"

"Spoken like a true shinobi... you'd be something special back where I come from."

Yoruichi and Ichigo turned towards the now awake Jinchuuriki smirking at them. "Bankai is definitely an ability that we'll need for the upcoming conflict. When do we start our training, Yoruichi?"

The ex-Captain smiled at her new student, his determination truly was remarkable. "We start whenever you feel ready. Oh and before I forget, Orihime managed to catch up to Ganju and Hanataro when Ichigo was fighting Zaraki."

Naruto and Ichigo both sighed in relief, good she was safe.

Naruto was about to voice his thoughts on the matter when suddenly a heavy pressure fell upon the hideout, freezing the occupants cold. Ichigo was the first to recognize the reiatsu of the stranger and he let out a deep growl.

"That's Byakuya's reiatsu. What the hell is going on, Yoruichi?" Ichigo said with barely held anger.

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes as she recognized several other signatures near the stoic Captain. "I sense the others, Ganju's reiatsu is fading rapidly and the others are panicked... and Rukia is with them."

The sounds of tearing cloth were heard through the cave as Naruto removed the bandages around his body to reveal completely healed skin underneath. A scroll and a puff of smoke later and Naruto was completely suited up in a replica of the outfit he wore before he fought the Omnitsukido, black coat included.

"I'm going to get them out of there," He stated, tightening his hitai-ate and tying Hayate to his back. "That bastard won't kill any of them as long as I'm alive. I'm going as well."

"No, you're going to stay here," Yoruichi ordered, stepping in front of Naruto for good measure. "I'll never forgive myself if something happened to either of you, you'll stay here until I return wi-"

The woman was cut off when she saw Ichigo fly past her with the tool she used to bring both boys to the hideout. Naruto used her distraction to his advantage and vanished with a Shunshin.

"DAMN!" Yoruichi yelled as she raced towards the Senzaikyū, unaware of a small pouch that Naruto left lying on the ground.

_Meanwhile..._

Orihime screamed in horror as she saw Ganju once again blown back by the power of the 6th Division Captain. The Shiba Clan member was on his last legs but his pride would not let him fall; he would defend the helpless with what little power he had left.

"Is that all you got you bastard? It'll take more than that to take down a Shiba," Ganju shouted.

The declaration caused the previously disinterested Byakuya to give Ganju his full attention. Rukia, who had watched the entire one-sided battle, widened her eyes in realization as she saw her brother raise his sword.

"So you're a Shiba? Forgive me, I shall stop holding back." Byakuya stated calmly as he held his sword up right in front of him.

"No, Nii-sama, don't do it!" Rukia begged, as she struggled in Orihime's grip as the taller girl restrained her. "Let go, Orihime!"

"No, Rukia, I can't let you go out there!" Orihime said sadly

"Scatter, Senbonzakura," Byakuya chanted, releasing his Zanpakuto, it's blade transforming into a thousand or so sakura petals.

"RUN AWAY!" Rukia shouted.

Time seemed to slow down and suddenly multiple lacerations littered Ganju's body, giving the man no time to react.

"G-Ganju," Hanataro muttered as he watched his friend collapse, disbelief etched in his face.

"Still alive," Byakuya said as he casually walked up to the downed man, raising his blade.

"I'll rectify that now," Byakuya said before directed his sakura petal blades at Ganju again.

"Santen Kesshun!"

A transparent, orange barrier surrounded Ganju, stopping Byakuya's attack cold much to the Captain's surprise. The stoic man turned to the young woman who stopped his attack, determination and slight apprehension on her face.

"Impressive, I've never seen powers like yours before, girl." Byakuya said, making the young woman tense. "However, as impressive as you are, you're still an enemy and will be dealt with the same as this trash."

A Shunpo later and Byakuya was behind Orihime, his blade already in mid-swing ready to bifurcate the young girl. "Know I don't take pleasure in this, girl, but you're now an enemy of the Soul Society... so I must cut you down. You have should have never come here, you're far too innocent for battle."

Orihime had no time to even turn to face the man who was about to cut her down; all she could do was close her eyes as tears began to flow and wait for the pain of the cold blade to slice through her.

It never came.

"Is this how you get your kicks, you bastard?! Attacking young women?! Is THIS you so-called 'honor' or whatever you call that bullshit?!"

Orihime blinked and let out a gasp of surprise when she found herself in the arms of Naruto who was glaring bloody murder at the Kuchiki head with crimson eyes.

"N-Naruto! You're ok." Orihime said with relief, the young girl having feared the worst for her friend.

Naruto smiled at the girl as he gently lifted her back onto her feet. "Of course I am, it'll take more than some psycho assassin to take out Uzumaki Naruto."

"N-Naruto? Why are you here?" Rukia muttered to herself, completely shocked by the blonde's appearance.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed at the shinobi and he began to release his sword once more when a hand gripped his wrist.

"Whoa there, I think you've made your point, Kuchki-taicho." Said a sickly man with long white hair, pale skin, and wearing a Shinigami uniform with a long sleeved Captain haori.

"What are you doing here, Ukitake-taicho?"

Ukitake Jushiro, 13th Division Captain gave Byakuya an admonishing look. "I could ask you the same question, releasing your Zanpakuto here of all places. You should know that's a serious offence, Byakuya."

Naruto watched the two captains exchange casual conversation and used the distraction to discreetly send some Kage Bunshin to get the others out of harm's way, Orihime included.

"I want you to take Orihime, Hanataro, and Ganju to safety and begin searching for the others. Bring them to the hideout afterwards." Naruto's clones nodded at their orders and were off before either captain noticed.

Once that was done, Naruto stole a glance at Rukia and sighed. He could've taken her too but she was too close to the captains for him to take her away discreetly. He'd have to wait for Yoruichi and Ichigo to show up first.

Reiatsu suddenly enveloped the area, making Naruto grin savagely.

"_Speak of the devil and he shall appear."_

Ichigo flew on to the seen, landing in front of Rukia.

"Yo," he said casually, not at all intimidated at the fact that two captains were right in front of him.

"Ichigo," Rukia gasped as tears began to well up in her eyes. "You're alive... _thank goodness._"

"Bout time you got here, Strawberry. Learn how to be quicker on your feet, will ya?" Naruto said, earning the bird from his orange-haired friend.

"Screw you, Fishcake. Anyways... where are the others?" Ichigo asked, ignoring the gob smacked Ukitake and the irritated Byakuya.

"I had some clones take them somewhere safe, they'll be fine." Naruto stated with a serious look to which Ichigo nodded.

Ukitake couldn't get over his shock as he laid eyes on Ichigo or more specifically, the image of a man overlapping the teen. "Byakuya, what do you know of this young man?"

"I know enough. He has no relation to the man who you are thinking about. This one here is nothing. Nothing but a Ryoka. I'll kill him and that will be the end of it. He'll be dead and this trifling invasion of his will be over." Byakuya stated, readying his blade.

At least he was until a voice spoke right behind the Kuchiki Clan Head.

"Move another inch, and I'll grind your face to shreds."

Byakuya froze as he felt the cold steel of a kunai at his neck, courtesy of the real Naruto who was standing behind the head of the Kuchiki Clan, and the hot chakra of the Rasengan centimeters from his face, courtesy of a Kage Bunshin who stood right in front of him, while another another Kage Bunshin stood by Naruto's back to make sure Ukitake didn't try anything.

"Someone as old as you should know to never turn their back to an enemy." Naruto said to the Kuchiki Clan Head.

The 6th Division Captain's stoic remained unchanged even as Naruto's blade was pressed against his throat. "I commend you on your skill, Uzumaki. I see why Soifon-taicho had to go as far as to release her Bankai to combat you."

"I don't need praise from an arrogant shit like you," Naruto snapped, tightening the kunai slightly and drawing a minute amount of blood. "You who put down others if they don't live up to your standards, I've dealt with people like you a lot in my career but you by far are the worst. I'll be happy to kick your ass and completely knock you off your pedestal myself but I believe my friend over there deserves to more than I do... so for now I'll just settle for crushing your pride."

Byakuya raised his eyebrow at this but, before he could question the young Uzumaki, the hairpieces that Byakuya shattered into pieces having been cut to ribbons when Naruto moved behind the Captain at such speeds that it was only now that they fell apart. Rukia's eyes widened in horror when she realized what Naruto had done.

"_Naruto broke the_ _kenseikan, one of the symbols of the head of the Kuchiki Clan. It's a symbol of pride for leading the Kuchiki Clan... and Naruto just destroyed it! He LITERALLY attacked nii-sama's pride as a noble. That means..._" Rukia thought to herself as she looked at her brother.

Byakuya's expression didn't change but it was obvious to everyone that Naruto had just crossed the line based on the aura of anger and killer intent that now radiated off the 6th Division captain.

"You've just sealed your fate, scum," Byakuya said, his voice a few decibels higher than normal but was otherwise unchanged.

To everyone's surprise this only seemed to piss off Naruto.

"Yeah... you're right. I am scum... but you know what? I'd rather be someone who's scum for breaking the rules than someone who's worse than scum for abandoning their friends... or family. Guess which one of the two you fall under? If you can't understand the importance of those bonds... if you're willing to get pissed off for a few broken hair clips but won't give a damn if your own family members live or die, then you have no business calling me scum... and you have no right to call Rukia-san your sister. You got it?!" Naruto hissed.

A series of claps followed Naruto's small speech and all attention turned towards the Shihoin princess who had finally arrived.

"Well said Naruto, you're certainly smarter than what most give you credit for." Yoruichi complemented

"Yoruichi," Ukitake gasped as he saw his old friend and comrade.

"It's been a long time Jushiro, Byakuya." Yoruichi greeted

"Shihoin Yoruichi," Byakuya intoned, using Shunpo to get away from Naruto due to his distraction much to the blonde's chagrin. "You have a lot of nerve showing yourself in Soul Society after all this time."

"Well look at you Byakuya, talking like a big shot now that you're a big bad captain." Yoruichi teased almost getting a slight twitch in the eye from the stoic man.

"Yoruichi," Ichigo began but the heiress cut him off.

"Both of you go," she ordered much to the boy's surprise and slight offense. "You both know you aren't ready to take him on yet, head back to the hideout, I'll be right behind you."

Ichigo turned to Rukia, ready to get her out of there but once again Yoruichi's voice stopped him. "Leave her."

"What!?" Ichigo said, dumbfounded but the look on the former captain's face made it obvious that she wasn't joking around. "Our whole reason of coming here was to rescue her; I'm not leaving her behind!"

"Don't argue with me Kurosaki, I gave you an order, now follow it!" Yoruichi's voice held no room for argument but Ichigo clearly had intention of listening to her… and he wasn't the only one.

Naruto, using Yoruchi and Ichigo's argument and Ukitake and Byakuya's focus on the argument as a distraction, created another Kage Bunshin which picked up Rukia and carried her over her shoulder, much to everyone's surprise.

"Hold on… what are doing, Naruto?!" a shocked Rukia asked as the Naruto clone made a hand sign.

"It's like Ichigo said… our whole reason for coming here was to rescue you and that's what we're going to do. Now hang on!" the Naruto clone said before he and Rukia vanished into thin air, the soft sound of wind being the only indicator that the clone had used the young Uzumaki's special wind variant of the Hiraishin.

As soon the clone vanished the real Naruto turned to face Ichigo… before his hand sank into the young Kurosaki's gut, re-opening his wounds.

"W-wha…?" a shocked Ichigo stuttered out before he slumped over the shinobi's shoulder, havign been rendered unconscious by Naruto's blow.

"Sorry, Ichigo, but there's no way you'd be able to outrun these bastards in your current condition," Naruto said before turning to Yoruchi, a very serious expression on his face.

"We're going to have a LONG talk when you get back," Naruto told her before disappearing with Shunpo.

With both her students and Rukia out of harm's way, Yoruichi gave her attention to Byakuya. "Three days, in three days I'll make both of those stronger than you, Kuchiki Byakuya. Until then your fight with those two has been postponed. We'll meet again, Byakuya and Jushiro."

With that, Yoruichi flash stepped back to the hideout, knowing full well that their mission had now changed drastically thanks to Naruto's unexpected move, and that she was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Instead of trying to pursue the Ryoka and his now wayward sister, Byakuya quickly sheathed his Zanpakuto and began to walk away, the disgraced noble knowing all too well that giving chase to our heroes would be a point less action.

As he left Ukitake to deal with the mess left behind, Byakuya tried to collect his thoughts but was unable to do so for some reason...


	14. 13 (We) Didn't Plan For This

**Chapter 13 – (We) Didn't Plan for This...**

**A/N: This is my first original chapter of the story. I hope you guys enjoy my work as much as you did HurricaneGohan94's. Just be warned my style of writing GREATLY differs from the original. Also this chapter is a bit slower and filled with more exposition than most of my chapters but that's only to explain why the change I made to the end of the last chapter is so important.**

**Anyways enjoy my first actual chapter of the story!**

Please fave, follow, and review this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach. They are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo, respectively… otherwise the Infinite Tsukuyomi would have never been successful and Komamura would not have been turned into an ACTUAL DOG!

[4th Division Holding Cell, Seireitei Soul Society]

_Current Time..._

The 4th Division of the Gotei 13 has one primary duty: healing. The division did have other duties, such as menial tasks and being in charge of the logistics of the Gotei 13 but, above all, healing comes first, whether they happen by healing an ally or an enemy. This was fortunate for Jiraiya, Chad, and Uryu because they were currently the Gotei 13's prisoners, the three intruders being currently locked up in a holding cell within that division. As the three sat on their cots in the guarded cell (a unseated officer was currently standing watch in front of their cell), their powers restrained by specialized handcuffs that suppress the powers of whoever was wearing them, Jiraiya had just finished explaining part of the reason why they weren't killed on the spot.

Needless to say the two teenagers were shocked by what they just heard but were quick to shake off their shock.

"So one of the shinigami captains was murdered? And because we're enemy combatants that means we're possible suspects. Is that about it?' Chad asked to which the old Sage nodded in response.

"That about sums it up," the toad sage answered. At this point Uryu added his two cents to the conversation.

"I see. So they only kept us alive to question us later, after which they'll probably execute us," Uryu pointed, his tone very somber despite knowing how much he had lucked out and not just because he was still alive.

When he and Chad had duked it out with the 12th Division captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Uryu had removed his white glove, known as the **Sanrei Glove**, which was a heirloom given to him by his sensei and grandfather Soken, and activating the ultimate technique of the Quincies, the **Quincy: Letzt Stil**, which he used to brutally defeat Mayuri. The victory came with a price, however as that **Letzt Stil **is supposed to rob the powers of any Quincy who used the technique (in fact, the technique is supposed to be a last resort for any Quincy as it is a double-edged sword), which meant Uryu was now powerless... or so that's what was supposed to happen.

For reasons that he couldn't explain Uryu sensed that he still had his powers, though they were a bit weaker than they had been before his trip to the Soul Society (something that he could easily remedy). While Uryu still mysteriously had his powers, however, it was a moot point as the cuffs he wore meant that he was unable to use his powers at all. As it stood right now, he and his fellow prisoners could do nothing but sit around and wait out the rest of the invasion.

Before the three Ryoka could continue the conversation their attention suddenly turned to the shinigami in front of their cell as he was approached by another shinigami, a man who appeared in his twenties with black hair and green eyes. The shinigami guarding the cell raised an eyebrow at seeing his fellow shinigami, apparently not recognizing him.

"Who are you? And what's your business here?" he asked.

"Reporting in from the 1st Division, sir! I came by on orders from the Head Captain to deliver a message to all members of the 4th Division. (he looks at the Ryoka before he notes the wary expression on the guard's face) The Ryoka can't know what I'm about to tell you. I have to whisper it to you," the green-eyed shinigami explained.

Apparently this was enough for the guard as he motioned with his left hand, his right hand currently gripping the shaft of a two-pronged trident-like spear, for the man to give him the message. The young shinigami walked forward until he was just inches away from the guard before he then positioned his head so that he could whisper the message into the guard's right ear.

"You left yourself wide open. Good night," the green-eyed shinigami whispered.

The guard's eyes widened in shock, realizing what had just happened... but it was too late. Almost instantly the guard's blacked out and fell to the ground with a thud, much to the shock of Jiraiya and the others as the green-eyed shinigami knelt down to the ground and searched the guard he just knocked out, pulling out the a set of keys a minute or so later.

"Good, he had it. (he turns to face the prisoners) I guess I don't need this disguise anymore," he said before he made a hand seal.

The "shinigami" was suddenly enveloped by a cloud of smoke as the trio of prisoners looked, with Jiraiya smirking when he realized what was going on.

"Took you long enough, eh, Naruto?" Jiraiya quipped as the cloud of smoke settled; sure enough it was none than our blonde hero (or a clone of him, to be more precise) who was unlocking the door, the young ninja having duped the guard with a simple **Transformation Technique**.

"Well you know what they say, Ero-Sennin. The hero is always fashionably late; it makes their arrival more dramatic like that," Naruto said just as the door to the cell was unlocked.

After noting the cuffs shackled to his godfather's wrists (as well as the wrists of Uryu and Chad) and unlocking the handcuffs with another one of the keys, a smirking Naruto clone suddenly created two more shadow clones. Each of the three clones then placed their left hands on the shoulders of one of the three guys they'd just freed.

"Hang on, you guys. We're getting out of here right now," one of the Naruto clones said before he and the other two clones made the same hand seal with their right hands.

A split-second later the group intruders to the Soul Society vanished with a soft gust of wind caused by Naruto's variant of the **Hiraishin(Flying Thunder God Technique)** briefly blowing through the halls, the unconcious guard lying in front of the cell being the only trace of them left... or so it seemed...

[Captain's Meeting Room]

_Sometime Later..._

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE RYOKA WERE ABLE TO FREE THE PRISONER?!"

Most the captains present for this meeting, which meant seven captains in total, flinched at hearing of Yamamoto's current verbal tirade. The only captain seemingly unaffected by the Head Captain's rage was Byakuya Kuchiki, the captain of the 6th Division and one of the two people who were the targets of Yamamoto's rage (the other person being the 13th Division Captain, Jushiro Ukitake). The two captains had just delivered their report on what happened at the Senzaikyū, which they concluded with by informing everyone in the room of both the reappearance of Yoruichi Shihoin and, more importantly to everyone there, the Ryoka's successful extraction of Rukia from the prison.

Byakuya sighed before he answered.

"It is as I just as I said. I'm certain that I made myself perfectly clear," Byakuya said, seemingly not bothered by his superior's rage... which only seemed to leave Yamamoto even move incensed.

"HOW CAN YOU ACT SO NONCHALANT ABOUT THIS?! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THE RAMIFICATIONS WILL BE IF THE PRISONER AND THE RYOKA ESCAPE?!" the Head Captain raged as his blood began to boil with in rising anger and frustration at hearing the news.

This was undoubtedly the most dire crisis in the history of the Soul Society and most certainly in the history of the Gotei 13. And who was the enemy they were facing? A group of a mere nine enemies consisting of four human teenagers, one Rukongai resident, one traitorous 4th Division member, two shinobi who, according to Unohana's "talk" with Jiraiya, had simply let their desire to explore get the better of them and got involved in something that was way over their heads, and one former captain. Even with two shinobi and a former captain fighting against them, however, the shinigami should have taken all of the Ryoka in custody by now.

For the supposedly invincible Gotei 13, however, this was not the case as the attempted defense by the shinigami had already turned into a massive debacle. 51 shinigami have died since the start of the invasion, including the 5th Division Captain Sosuke Aizen who, to make things even worse, may have actually murdered by one of their own, and 50 or so member of the Onimitsukido who had the unfortunate luck of running into Naruto.

The rest of the Onimitsukido and the associated 2nd Division, including Lieutenant Marechiyo Omaeda and Captain Soifon, had been seriously wounded and were knocked out of the fight; in addition the 7th, 11th and 12th Divisions had been taken out as well, including the captains of those Divisions (them being Sajin Komamura, Kenpachi Zaraki, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi, respectively). Worse yet, the 8th and 9th Divisions had also lost half their men, being seriously wounded by Chad and Uryu before the two had moved towards into the 12th Division barracks in an attempt to find out where Rukia had been imprisoned. Meanwhile, Renji Abarai, the 6th Division lieutenant, was defeated by Ichigo Kurosaki while the 3rd and 5th Division Lieutenants, Izuru Kira and Momo Hinamori, had been placed under arrest after some infighting occurred at the site of Aizen's murder (which also caused Momo to now grow mentally unstable), removing them from the fight.

In summary the Gotei 13, partly due slightly to the infighting that has began bubbling up but mostly due to the Ryoka, had lost 5 captains, with one of them being dead, 5 lieutenants, 4 entire divisions and another division's worth of shinigami, the entire Onimitsukido, with the number total number of shinigami that have become casualties totaling 1,200 or so men and women. The shinigami, meanwhile, had only captured three of the Ryoka and, to add further salt to the shinigami's wounds, metaphorically speaking, the other intruders (and the traitorous shinigami) had succeeded in their objective and had rescued Rukia from her cell in the Senzaikyū.

The Head Captain had a lot of good reasons to be mad and would soon have another reason as the Captain's meeting was interrupted by a random shinigami who barged into the meeting room.

"Reporting in! We just got a message from the 4th Division! They were just attacked by an unidentified assailant. While no one was killed in the attack, at least half of the 4th Division members are unconscious. Furthermore the three Ryoka prisoners are not in their cells; based on the evidence it appears one of the other Ryoke infiltrated the Division and freed them!" the shinigami said.

As Unohana's eyes widened in surprise at the news of the attack on her Division the other captains had various reactions, most of them including some form of surprise.

"They only just freed Rukia Kuchiki half an hour an hour ago and now this? These Ryoka work fast, if nothing else," Gin said, though not to anyone in particular.

The Head Captain remained deathly silent for a few tense minutes... and then his two rage-filled eyes opened.

"_We're going to be here a while,_" Kyoraku thought to himself just as Yamamoto began his new tirade.

"WHAAAAAT?!"

[Unspecified Location, Seireitei]

_Meanwhile..._

Yamamoto wasn't the only one that was unhappy with Naruto's unexpected defiance of Yoruichi's orders.

Inside a room with several large video screens lining up one of the walls of said room, a man seated on a large chair as he watch the screens which were currently turned on. This man was none other than Sosuke Aizen, the supposedly deceased captain of the 5th Division and the person who masterminded the entire situation unfolding right now in the Seireitei. Despite his manipulations, however, he was completely caught off guard by the blonde ninja's decision to take Rukia, who was the center behind his entire plan, whatever that might've been.

As Aizen looked on at the screens, which were playing recordings of the standoff at the Senzaikyū Bridge, he appeared to very calm, cold, and collected as his "true" self usually was. In reality, however, this was only a facade at the moment as Aizen was none too pleased with this sudden and unexpected turn of events.

"_That damned shinobi brat. I should've targeted him first when I had the chance... he ruined everything! All of my planning, all my preparations... gone to waste!_" Aizen thought to himself as he wondered what he was going to do now.

Now one would expect that this turn of events is only a small delay for someone who managed to orchestrate the Ryoka Invasion and trick everyone into believing that he was murdered, having planned this years in advance no less. After all, Aizen had not only managed to hide his true intentions and manipulate everyone (well, ALMOST everyone, anyways) without much effort on his end but, as one would expect, the powers he has displayed in his time as a Gotei 13 captain are only a fraction of his true power. Surely someone of Aizen's actual caliber, in both intelligence and strength, would be able to easily deal with this situation, right?

WRONG!

Aizen's ability to plan far ahead is easily beyond what any one being should be capable of but it came at a price: he wasn't really much for thinking on his feet at a moment's notice and his ability to plan far ahead fell flat when dealing with unpredictable factors that seemingly come out of nowhere. Normally neither are a problem for Aizen because he had already dealt with any who could've presented that type of problem one way or another or those people didn't do anything that really effected Aizen's plans; unfortunately for Aizen, though, neither one of these things applied to Naruto. While Aizen didn't plan for two shinobi to get involved it didn't seem to be problem for him at first, especially when he knocked Jiraiya out after his fight with Komamura. Aizen made a big mistake, however, when he decided to let Naruto run around out of simple curiosity and, as a result, Aizen paid the price as Rukia was now with the Ryoka.

Aizen realized that Yoruichi, who alongside Kisuke were trying to expose Aizen by having the execution play out (though they obviously intended to stop it before Rukia was killed), would realize that such a move was now impossible. Yoruchi couldn't just take Rukia back to her cell without losing the trust of the others, especially Ichigo and Naruto whom she HAD to train to help her out, and she was aware of some of Aizen's plans and even his key abilities and would undoubtedly prepare accordingly. Aizen also had to deal three opponents, them being Naruto, Ichigo, and Jiraiya who haven't fallen under one of his main abilities which presented another issue, which was made even worse by the fact that Naruto was clearly suspicious of Yoruichi who would have to come clean about what was going on which only meant more complications for Aizen since he didn't know what he was really dealing with. He knew what Jiraiya was capable of due to witnessing his fight with Komamura and planned for what Ichigo would be capable of but, aside from his apparent ability to ruin any long-term plans that he ends up getting mixed up with, Naruto's abilities were unknown to Aizen (he was so focused on watching Ichigo's fight with Kenpachi that Aizen didn't even watch Naruto's fight with the 2nd Division).

In the end Naruto's unexpected defiance of Yoruichi's orders basically changed the nature of the invasion in such a way that any chance Aizen had to salvage his plan involved taking huge risks without really knowing what he was dealing with. And if there's one thing Aizen refuses to do it's going into a situation blind so that was out of the question. With the situation as it was now Aizen only had one course of action left to him: cutting his losses and using the cover of the invasion he instigated to sneak out of the Seireitei before someone in the Gotei 13 could figure him out, even if that meant leaving Rukia and whatever it was that made her so important.

After watching the videos for a few more minutes Aizen turned the screens off before standing up to leave the room. Even after just watching his plans shot to hell, however, the master manipulator began pondering his next move.

"I guess it can't be helped... I should probably have them stay behind to spy on the rest of the Gotei 13, though. I'll need as much information as I possible before I'm able to come up with a new plan," Aizen said to himself as he walked out of the room...

[Ryoka Hideout]

_Elsewhere..._

At around the time Aizen and Gotei 13 were first learning that the Ryoka broke Rukia out of her cell, Yoruichi was just arriving at the hideout that she, Ichigo, and Naruto were at just before the incident at Senzaikyū Bridge. The former Captain of the 2nd Division could've gotten much faster but, after that surprising twist that she should've seen coming (but she didn't), she decide to take a little longer to get there to put her thoughts together on how she was going to explain herself. As she reached the entrance Yoruichi let out a sigh.

"_Looks like Naruto has already rescued everyone else as well... this is going to be more complicated than I thought..._" she thought to herself before she entered the hideout.

Sure enough everyone was there, all healed... and all suddenly facing her.

After a few more seconds of tense silence Naruto finally spoke up.

"So... would you mind explaining why we're actually here, Yoruichi?" Naruto asked to which Yoruichi responded by letting out another sigh.

Yeah... this definitely complicates things...

Next Time - Road to Escape, Part 1: The Next Move


	15. 14 The Next Move

**Chapter 14 - Road to Escape, Part 1: The Next Move**

Please fave, follow, and review this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach.

[Ryoka Hideout, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Recap:

After a few more seconds of tense silence Naruto finally spoke up.

"So... would you mind explaining why we're actually here, Yoruichi?" Naruto asked to which Yoruichi responded by letting out another sigh.

_Current Time..._

"What do you mean by that, Naruto?" Yoruichi asked, as if feigning ignorance in a weak attempt to avoid the issue.

Naturally, Naruto wasn't buying that act at all.

"Don't give me that. It's obvious that you're hiding something. When we were back in the bridge you tried to have us leave Rukia behind even though our whole reason for being here was to supposedly save her. This wouldn't have been such a big deal if it was just you and Ichigo there at that moment but since I was also there we were more than capable of getting Rukia and ourselves out of there. You knew this... yet you still tried to get me and Ichigo to leave Rukia behind for no reason, which means you had other plans for her. So I'll ask again... why are we really here?" Naruto asked.

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at this, knowing full well that she had been caught red-handed and was only delaying the inevitable, before letting out another sigh.

"Alright, I guess you got me fair and square, Naruto. Seeing as there's no point in hiding it anymore, I might as well tell the truth," Yoruichi said before she sat down with her legging in a crossed positing.

"For starters, I'll make one thing perfectly clear; we did come here to save Rukia. I had no intention of allowing to die... but like Naruto said, there's more to it than that. You see Rukia's death sentence... was planned out even before she appeared in Karakura Town," Yoruichi began.

This revelation caused almost everyone else's eyes to widen in shock, the sole exception being Naruto and Jiraiya.

"_So I was right. There is something bigger going on here. Someone was manipulating the entire Soul Society, laws and all, in order to set Rukia-san up. The question is who... and why..._" Jiraiya thought to himself as a shocked Rukia spoke up.

"Wait... someone was planning to have me killed all this time?" Rukia asked, wondering what she had done to provoke whoever was responsible into doing that.

"Yes, but not because they had anything personal against you, Rukia-san. The person who planned for you to be killed simply needed a pawn for their plans and you just happened to be the one they chose to be that pawn," Yoruichi said.

"But who would do something like that to Rukia? And why?" Hanataro asked.

"Do you really want to know, Hanataro?" Yoruichi asked back to which Hanataro nodded in response.

"He isn't the only one who wants to know. If this asshole is willing to go that far I think we should at least know who it is and what they're after," Ganju pointed out.

"Alright then. The person responsible for what happened to Rukia... is Sosuke Aizen, the captain of the 5th Division," Yoruichi said.

Rukia and Hanataro's eyes widened even more than they already had, if that were even possible, as they had horrified and disbelieving expressions on their faces.

"C-Captain Aizen? But... but that's impossible! There's no way he would do something like this!" Hanataro said in sheer disbelief.

"Unfortunately, it's the truth. Aizen has been planning to betray the Soul Society for a long time. The kind and gentle man that you and Rukia knew to be Aizen was nothing more than a facade, a mask hiding his true nature. (a brief pause) I guess should probably start from the beginning..." Yoruichi began.

_An Hour Later..._

"...Anyways, I think that's everything. Do you now understand what we're dealing with?" Yoruichi said, finishing her explanation.

Needless to say, Naruto, Ichigo, and the rest of the Ryoka had been left completely in the dark over what was really going on.

According to the former captain, Aizen had been plotting to destroy the Soul Society for well over a century (and probably even farther back than that as his origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery). Aizen had been responsible for both her and Kisuke (Yoruichi had revealed that Kisuke had been the 12th Division Captain before Mayuri) leaving the Gotei 13 as the two having been falsely accused of various crimes in which Aizen had been the actual perpetrator, forcing into exile as a result. The captain had been able to fool everyone in the Soul Society with his facade, made all the more convincing thanks to his powers of manipulation and deception, and had been taking his time to prepare... waiting for the day he would finally be ready to set his plans into motion... and the the Ryoka Invasion, specifically Rukia's execution, was to be the event that started everything. Once the execution, which Yoruichi had planned to prevent, was underway, Aizen would've made his move and revealed his true nature to the Gotei 13 in the process, clearing Rukia and the Ryoka of any wrongdoing and allowing everyone to focus on the true threat.

Thanks to Naruto's actions, however, Aizen's plans were completely ruined and, given the very uncertain circumstances, the traitorous shinigami would have no other recourse than to withdraw from the Soul Society and allow the invasion he had masterminded run its course without anything to show for it. This was also a bad thing, however, because that meant Aizen would not be forced to reveal his true self to the Gotei 13. Not only does this mean the Gotei 13 will not be able to focus on stopping Aizen's plans but this also posed problems for their (the Ryoka) rescue of Rukia as they're now unable to clear themselves of any wrongdoing... which means Rukia is still a condemned criminal in the eyes of the Soul Society. As a result, Ichigo and co. have only one option: they have to escape the Soul Society with Rukia. T do that, however, they'll need Kukaku's help so they'll first have to find way out of the Seireitei and reach Kukaku's home.

Needless to say, this explanation led to several mixed reactions from Naruto, Ichigo, and the others... and a question from a certain Toad Sage.

"I can see why you would want to withhold this information from us but there's still one things you didn't tell us. Why was Rukia's execution so important for Aizen that he'd go to such lengths to ensure that it happened? What is he trying to accomplish with all this mayhem?" Jiraiya asked.

While her expression remained unchanged, some of the people in the group could tell that Yoruichi was very reluctant to answer that question. This only caused the alarms in Naruto and Jiraiya's ring even louder...

...until, much to everyone's surprise, Ichigo entered the conversation.

"Let me guess... Kisuke had something to do with it, didn't he?" Ichigo asked, though the orange-haired teen sounded like he was stating a fact rather than asking a question.

After a few tense moments, Yoruichi let out a sigh before she finally answered.

"Yes."

Yoruichi's response caused Jiraiya to narrow his eyes as a single thought ran through his mind.

"_I should've known that Urahara had something to do with this,_" he thought.

Naruto, on the other hand, was less than happy to hear this; in his mind, Kisuke and Yoruichi lied and used them yet again. How was he supposed to trust people who seem to lie to his and everyone's faces again and again?

The young Uzumaki was about to call Yoruichi on what she and Urahara had done... before Ichigo, who stood up from his seated position, once again, spoke up.

"I understand. I don't know why you and Kisuke lied to us... but I'm sure you guys have your reasons. And since the two of you helped us get this far, I'm willing to let it go for now. In any case, we're not out of the woods just yet so the both of you can tell us why you did this when we're back home. For now, let's just focus on getting back," Ichigo suggested.

Yoruichi, after staring back at the orange-haired Kurosaki for a few moments, let a light smile form on her face.

"That's a rather mature response coming from you, Ichigo. Maybe Kisuke and I underestimated you and the others, after all... (she turns to Naruto and the other) What about you guys?" the former captain of the 2nd Division said.

Naruto sighed before responding to Yoruichi's question.

"While I don't share Strawberry's willingness to let this whole thing go, he has a point. We need to focus on getting out of here above everything else so I'll do the same... but you and Geta-Boushi are going to explain everything once we get back to Karakura Town so don't think you're off the hook just yet, got it?" Naruto said.

Once everyone else voiced similar thoughts as either Naruto or Ichigo, minus Rukia who remained unusually quiet the entire time, Uryu decided to ask a question that had been stuck in his mind after Yoruichi ended her explanation.

"Now that we're all on the same page, what are we going to do now?" the Quincy asked.

"Good question. Thanks to Naruto's actions, we have no choice now but to get out of the Soul Society and get back to Karakura Town. I doubt the Head Captain would let us take the Senkaimon back so we really only have one option... we'll have to get out of the Seireitei and find our way back to Kukaku's house. It won't be easy, though, and the shinigami will definitely pursue us at every turn," Yoruichi said as she considered their options.

Before anyone could say anything else, however, Naruto suddenly seemed to freeze up, like something had hit him. After a few moments a wide smile crept onto Naruto's face as he hit the open palm of his left hand with the fist of his right hand.

"That's it!" the blonde genin seemingly exclaimed to himself, catching the rest of the group off-guard.

"What is it, Naruto? You have something on your mind?" Chad asked, with Naruto giving a light chuckle before he answered Chad's question.

"I just came up with an idea on how to get ourselves out of here..." Naruto began.

_Ten Minutes Later..._

"...You can't be serious. That's your plan?" Uryu asked, the Last Quincy in a state of sheer disbelief at what he just heard, which matched the sentiments of most of the members of the group.

"Yep," Naruto responded.

Ichigo's (one of the few people who didn't look at Naruto like the latter had lost his mind) response to Naruto's plan was, not surprisingly, much different than that of Uryu's.

"It's worth a shot, I guess," Ichigo said, which caused some of the others to look at him like he'd also lost his mind.

At this point, Jiraiya threw his two cents to the conversation.

"Actually, I think that could actually work. I was able to use the **Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) **during my battle with the Captain of the 7th Division so getting past the walls shouldn't be the problem. Still... (he turns to Yoruichi) you're the one who knows this place better than the rest of us, so you'll have to make the call. What do you think?" Jiraiya pointed out.

After thinking about it for a minute or two, Yoruichi gave her answer.

"To be honest, Naruto, your idea is so out there that the only reason I'll agree to it is because I really don't have a plan myself. That said your idea is crazy enough that it might just work... but, for that to happen, you and Ichigo will still need to learn bankai," Yoruichi pointed out.

Our two heroes turned to looked at each other for a few moments before they nodded back at each other, as if they knew what the other was thinking, before the two teens turned to face Yoruichi.

"What are we waiting for?" Ichigo asked.

[Secret Training Area, Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei]

_Several Minutes Later..._

Yoruichi was currently inside a massive cavern. The cavern was filled with large boulders, several small cliffs, and even a few dead trees scattered throughout the cavern that looked very similar to the training area located under Kisuke's shop back in Karakura Town. The similarities were something expected, however, as the area Yoruichi was in right now was actually a secret training area that Kisuke had created for himself and Yoruichi to use back when they were still part of the Gotei 13 and Onmitsukidō.

At the moment Yoruichi was alone... something that was about to change as the former captain dropped a small pouch that she had been carrying... filled with **Hiraishin (**Flying Thunder God**)** kunai.

"If I'm right, they should be here in a minute," Yoruichi said to herself out loud.

As it turns out, Yoruichi's musings where dead on as, a minute after she said that, "they" (Naruto, several Naruto clones, Ichigo, and the rest of the group) suddenly appeared in front of her. The group had teleported there via Naruto's variant of the **Hiraishin no Jutsu (**Flying Thunder God Technique**)** so as to avoid detection which the group would've risked had they walked over to the secret training (Yoruichi having arrived there first with Naruto's supply of **Hiraishin **kunai so he could use the technique).

After Naruto dispersed his clones, he and the others looked around the area.

"This place... it's massive," Hanataro breathed out in amazement, while also wondering how this place had managed to stay hidden from the other shinigami.

Ichigo grunted in response to this.

"It's nothing special. (he turns to face Yoruichi) So this is where Naruto and I are going to do our bankai training?" the orange-haired teen asked.

Yoruichi nodded in the affirmative then cocked her head to the left as if to direct everyone's attention in that direction.

"Apparently you two aren't the only ones, either. I bumped into this guy while I came here. He says you'd know him when you see him," Yoruichi pointed out, almost tauntingly.

Before anyone of the now-confused members of the group could ask the former 2nd Division Captain what she meant by that, a person suddenly appears beside... a very familiar, red-headed person. Ichigo smirked upon seeing the person.

"I'm glad to see you're back on your feet, Renji," Ichigo said.

Rukia, meanwhile, tried to hold back a few tears of joy at the sight of her longtime friend.

"Renji, you're ok... _-Thank goodness-,_" Rukia said, having feared the worst for Renji upon hearing of his defeat at the hands of Ichigo a little over a day ago.

At this point, Renji finally spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm alright, though our fight (he turns to Ichigo as he said this) really did a number on me. I'm surprised when I was able to get back up so fast... and why is your shinobi friend looking at me like that?" Renji asked as he interrupted himself midway into his own explanation.

This was due to the very sudden and ominous change in the expression on Naruto's face. A dark shadow had fallen over his eyes to go with a rise in killer intent moments after Renji pointed out the blonde's dark expression.

Before anyone could register what was going on Naruto suddenly rushed at Renji with the **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**. Once he got within striking distance, Naruto unsheathed his zanpakuto and, grasping it with a reverse hand grip, took a swipe at Renji who was forced to draw out his blade to block the attack. As his blade met Renji's, an enraged Naruto vented out his sudden rage.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT CHEAP SHOT FROM LAST TIME, YOUR HEAR ME?!" he yelled out as he continued his attack.

Next Time - White, Black, and Red Mayhem: Bankai Training!


	16. 15 Bankai Training!

**Chapter 15 - White, Black, and Red Mayhem: Bankai Training!**

**A/N #1: I apologize for the long delay; between earning my B.A. last year, my applying to a Graduate program for next year, my recent employment as a librarian, and my work on both my other fic(s) and those of other authors, I've been rather busy this past year. ****To make up for this, I give you one of the longest chapters I've ever written, as well as the first OST Scene I've written for this story (if you don't know what that is, look up the basics in my other "ongoing" fic, "The Maelstrom and Deathberry"). **

**Also, I want to thank my good friend DocHoliday0316 for helping me with this chapter; without him, this chapter would've taken even more months to come out. Check out his fics as he is also a great author.**

**Now that I've gotten that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!**

Please fave, follow, and review this story.

Disclaimer: Still applies.

This chapter has an OST Scene.

[Secret Training Area, Sokyoku Hill, Seireitei]

Recap:

Before anyone could register what was going on Naruto suddenly rushed at Renji with the **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**. Once he got within striking distance, Naruto unsheathed his zanpakuto and, grasping it with a reverse hand grip, took a swipe at Renji who was forced to draw out his blade to block the attack. As his blade met Renji's, an enraged Naruto vented out his sudden rage.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT CHEAP SHOT FROM LAST TIME, YOUR HEAR ME?!" he yelled out as he continued his attack.

_Current Time..._

Naruto's sudden attack left everyone else shocked and bewildered in the giant hiding spot, with all of them having very similar thoughts.

"_How does he_ _still remember that fight? And how the hell has he managed to still hold a grudge against Renji for what happened back then?_" was the thought swimming through a dumbfounded Ichigo's mind at that moment, perfectly summing up the general feeling of disbelief among everyone else at the sight of Naruto's outburst.

Renji, meanwhile, struggled to hold back Naruto, who kept pushing him back as well, as he also tried to hold back his own bewilderment. It didn't work.

"What the hell?! Why are you attacking me?! I'm not your enemy anymore, you idiot!" Renji yelled in bewilderment, all while wondering if anyone had taken the time to explain all this to the ninja.

This was actually something that Naruto was already told shortly before Yoruichi arrived at the previous hideout and was forced to reveal the truth about what was going on to the group. In that time, Ichigo (after he woke up from his injuries, yelled at Naruto for a bit, and then heard Naruto explain the issue with Yoruichi tried to do) took some of the time before Yoruichi's reluctant return to tell Naruto about what he had been doing up to that time, which included the battle he had with Renji and the brief conversation(s) they had during and after the fight.

Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to convince Naruto to forgive Renji, which only became more obvious when Naruto responded to Renji's questions.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE OUR FRIEND NOW! I'M STILL GOING MAKE YOU PAY TENFOLD FOR WHAT YOU DID, ASSHOLE!" Naruto yelled.

Before Renji could respond to this rant, he suddenly detected a presence rushing towards him from behind.

"_Oh, shit! I'm trapped!_" Renji thought to himself; as the red-haired lieutenant was unable to move due to Naruto keeping him pinned in a deadlock between their blades, he indeed found himself trapped as he awaited for the inevitable blade to run him through.

Renji didn't know that he would soon be wishing he had been run through with a blade as the presence, which was none other than a Naruto clone, closed in.

"Take this you bastard! **Konohagakure Hiden Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!**" the Naruto clone roared.

Suddenly Renji felt a sharp horrible pain, not from a blade through his torso, but from what felt like fingers rammed up the spot in him where the sun don't shine, so to speak. Almost instantly, Renji's face cringed in pain and humiliation before, suddenly, the lieutenant was sent flying into the air, forcing the real Naruto to move out of the way of the red head (the clone dispersed the instant Renji was propelled upwards).

"NOW WE'RE EVEN, RENJI!" Naruto roared at Renji, his right index finger pointed at the humiliated Renji in a somewhat comedic fashion.

Those who were watching this scene unfold found themselves being either horrified, disturbed or, in the case of both Ichigo and Jiraiya, doing a facepalm in sheer disbelief at the sheer level of stupidity of Naruto's antics. No matter how much he grew (at least in Jiraiya's eyes), Naruto was, in the end, still Naruto.

Rukia, meanwhile, walked over to where Renji was located. It took her a few minutes for her to find the red-haired lieutenant laying down on the ground, still somewhat stunned, humiliated, and in pain. Rukia soon went to Renji's side before speaking.

"Are you alright, Renji?" Rukia asked.

Renji, whose face was planted on the floor, didn't bother to turn and face his longtime friend as he barely lifted his head to nod in the affirmative before he spoke.

"I don't know what's worse... the physical pain from that bastard's little stunt... or the humiliation," Renji said as he finally gathered his bearings and stood up, his legs wobbling underneath.

Rukia sighed as she walked up to Renji and held him up as they both walked back to the area where everyone else was located. As they got closer to the others, Renji spoke to Rukia.

"Hey, Rukia... I was just wondering something," Renji said.

"What is it?" Rukia asked.

"How are you able to even stay standing? Given how you lost your powers, and with all the time you were in the Shishinrō, you shouldn't be able to even stand," Renji pointed out.

Rukia's eyes widened in surprise upon realizing what Renji was saying.

"_He's right... I shouldn't be able to stand at all. I guess I never thought about it until now but Renji does have a point... so how am I even moving?_" Rukia thought to herself, the shinigami not having given that part of her situation that much thought up until now.

Renji was quick to realize that Rukia really didn't have an answer for her, decided to change the subject.

"Never mind. I'm sure it's nothing too serious, in any case. (he briefly pauses before letting out a sigh) I have to say, Rukia... you made some very good friends back in the World of the Living, for them to go this far to save you," Renji said, to which Rukia sighed before responding.

"I guess so... and to think I was praying that they would stop and leave. I should've known that Ichigo, at the very least, would try and pull something like this. That said, I can't help this feeling that this will lead to hard times for everyone involved," Rukia said.

Renji raised an eyebrow at hearing Rukia's ominous concerns before he and Rukia finally see the group a short distance away.

_A Few Minutes Later..._

"So, are we all on the same page?" Yoruichi asked the rest of the group who all nodded in the affirmative, the former shinigami captain having made sure to explain the situation regarding Renji. In addition, she revealed to the lieutenant the secret behind Rukia's arrest, though he agreed to keep silent due to the lack of evidence against Aizen and other complications.

Yoruichi, satisfied with the fact that everyone was now caught up to speed, finally began to address the matter at hand.

"Very well, then. It's finally time to begin your training (she turns to face Ichigo and Naruto as she says this). Are you two ready?" she asked.

The two teens simply nodded in response, causing Yoruichi to give a small playful grin before she spoke again.

"Very well then. Now in order to learn bankai, you'll have to materialize your zanpakuto spirits. Normally, trying to achieve bankai would take years to do, but I have a way to work around this."

With that, she held up what appeared to be two, man-sized dolls that were vaguely human shaped (how she pulled them out of seemingly thin air was anyone's guess at that moment).

Upon seeing both the confused faces of both teens, Yoruichi then began to explain what they were.

"These are **Tenshintai (Change God Body)**, artifacts that Kisuke invented that belong to the Onmitsukidō. It can allow the materialization of your zanpakuto spirit, which you will then need to subjugate. However, given the limitations, I have to maintain the materialized forms of your zanpakuto spirits with my own power. Also, since we don't know how long it'll take for the wounded captains to recover, we need to move forward with out plans as soon as possible. You'll only have three days to achieve bankai; if either of you are unable to do that before, or if you-"

Yoruichi's exposition was cut short when both teenagers each stabbed their own Tenshintai, which caught her off guard.

"There's no point in telling us the consequences, Yoruichi. If this is what it takes to get out of here, then I'd rather just focus on this fight without any more worries," Ichigo interrupted as Naruto then spoke his mind.

"Strawberry's right. Besides, it's not like I'm going to take long to get my bankai. I plan on finishing this today."

"You and me both, fishcake."

The two dolls then disappeared in a single flash of light which immediately dispersed to reveal the materialized spirits of both Hayate and Zangetsu, the former addressed his partner almost immediately.

"**It's nice to see you in the flesh, Naruto.**" Hayate greeted.

"_Why does that sound so wrong?_" Naruto thought to himself before shaking those thoughts out of his head, all while Zangetsu addressed Ichigo.

"**…You've recovered pretty fast, Ichigo,**" Zangetsu said.

"I guess so," Ichigo stated.

At this point, Yoruichi entered the conversation.

"I assume you two heard everything?" Yoruichi asked the two zanpakuto spirits.

"**Yep,**" Hayate replied.

"**Of course,**" was Zangetsu's response.

Yoruichi nodded in confirmation before speaking.

"Good. Then I'll leave the actual training to you-"

"**Actually, I won't be training Ichigo this time around,**" Zangetsu said as he interrupted Yoruichi. This took everyone in the room by surprise, with the exception of Ichigo. Naruto had a puzzled look on his face, Rukia blinked in confusion, and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at this. Zangetsu turned to Ichigo, who in turn, spoke to him.

"I see… I guess you want me to deal with him as well, is that it?" Ichigo asked.

"**That is correct. Your power has grown even faster than I had anticipated, mostly due to your training with Naruto and Jiraiya, which means the same has happened with him as well. If you wish to obtain your bankai, you'll have to also gain control of that power as well. You've already felt it yourself, haven't you?**" Zangetsu pointed out, causing Ichigo to sigh before replying.

"Yeah... I just thought it would wait until I got my bankai. Beggars can't be choosers, though, so if this is what it takes..." Ichigo said, confusing most of the people in the room.

"What do you mean, Ichigo? Who are you talking about?" a confused Naruto asked as he turned to face his friend.

As if to answer Naruto's question, laugh suddenly echoed throughout the chamber, getting everyone's attention. It was a bone-chilling, manic laugh that made everyone's hearts stop cold. A seemingly disembodied voice, who was the source of the laugh, then spoke.

"**I'm insulted, Foxface. I thought that you would've already know about me.**"

With that, another figure materialized, standing back to back with Zangetsu. It appeared to be a pale doppelganger of Ichigo. He was fairly tall and lean, with white skin and hair, golden irises, black sclera, and wore a white shihakusho with a black belt. On his back was a copy of Zagetsu, but with a reversed color scheme. It had a silver blade with a black edge, and wrapped around its impromptu hilt was a black cloth. This figure was the hollow that lived inside of Ichigo's conscience.

"**What's up, King?**" the Hollow said in mockingly manner as he turned and greeted Ichigo, who narrowed his eyes at him.

"_Is... Is this thing... a part of Kurosaki-kun?_" Orihime thought to herself as she watched the hollow stare down Ichigo.

Yoruichi then turned to Zangetsu and began to speak to him.

"Alright, what's the meaning of this?"

"**During his training to awaken his own Soul Reaper powers, Ichigo somehow gained a hollow side to him, which has been slowly trying to take him over. Since Ichigo's strength has increased much faster than I had expected, due to his training with Naruto and Jiraiya, I decided that it would be best if we deal with him now rather than later. Ichigo has to defeat and subjugate his hollow...**"

".**..a****nd if he does, I'll acknowledge his authority, and that'll be the end of it. If the King isn't able to defeat me, though, then I take control his body...**" the Hollow said, finishing Zangetsu's explanation as his smirk grew before speaking again.

"**...and once I get his body, I'll probably celebrate... by cutting loose on all of you.**"

"_It seems I've made a big mistake,_" Yoruichi thought to herself as she raised her hand to undo the materialization.

Ichigo noticed this, however, and, realizing what Yoruichi was about to do, suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Don't do it, Yoruichi," he said.

"Do you have a death wish, Ichigo? Didn't you hear what the two of them just said?" Yoruichi said sternly as Ichigo replied to her.

"Yes... and I don't care. I already knew that it would come to this some day. If losing to my hollow means that it'll take over my body, then the solution is simple: all I have to do is win. and that's what I'm going to do. Besides, this is the only chance we have to get out of here, so I'll take my chances... but I will beat him and get my bankai. Gaining control of my hollow will simply be a little bonus."

Hayate, impressed by the teenager's words, decided to throw in his two cents.

"**Is that so, Ichigo... if that's the case, then I have a suggestion make.**"

"**And what would that be, Hayate?**" Zangetsu asked.

"**Well, since both Ichigo and Naruto are currently without their blades, we should give them a fairer chance. How about we make this into a two-on-two tag team battle?**"

After a few minutes of thought, Zangetsu replied.

"**That works, so long as I get to decide the training method for both of them,**" Zangetsu said, with Hayate nodded in agreement, all the while the Hollow scrunched up his face in annoyance before talking to the Naruto's zanpakuto spirit.

"**Fine. I'll go along with your little game, Hayate, since the Old Man seems to have already made up his mind. But know this, Hayate. When I get the king's body, you'll be among the first people I kill.**"

"_Not gonna happen,_" Ichigo thought to himself as Hayate turned to the two teens and spoke to them.

"**So, what do you two think? Are you willing to go along with this?**"

Naruto sighed to himself as he spoke to his partner.

"It looks like I don't have much of a choice, do I? I'll do it."

"I'll go along with it too," Ichigo said as Zanegtsu then crouched down and touched the ground with his hand. Suddenly, hundreds of blades sprung out of the ground. They all looked similar to Zangetsu, but differed in one way or another. Zangetsu then began to speak to Ichigo.

"**Only one of these blades is the your real zanpakuto, Ichigo. The real Zangetsu is the manifestation of your true power, and only it will hold together in combat; all the other blades will break apart when used. If you want to achieve bankai and force your Inner Hollow to submit, then you must find the it and defeat him with it before he kills you.**"

"**How strange, I was going to use the same method to train Naruto,**" Hayate said as he crouched down and proceeded to tap the ground with his two fingers. With that, dozens of copies of Hayate's shikai form appeared, looking similar yet different from the real thing.

"**Anyways, Naruto, the same rules apply to you as they due to Ichigo. You two can start whenever you're both ready,**" Hayate explained.

Naruto and Ichigo gave each other a nod of acknowledgement as they both stared down at Hayate and the Hollow.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two teens then made their move. Ichigo jumped back while Naruto went through a set of handsigns before unleashing his attack.

"**Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!**"

The shinobi then took in a deep breath before exhaling while spinning. The compressed air from his mouth then turned into a series of wind blades, which bombarded the two opponents. However, this served as little more than a distraction, as Naruto rushed off to find Hayate's true form.

Ichigo looked among the many blades, trying to the one that was the real Zangetsu. He quickly eyed a sword that stood out to him. The blade of the sword was shaped like the familiar cleaver of his blade's shikai and, overall, bore the greatest resemblance to his zanpakuto.

"_That's got to be it,_" Ichigo thought to himself before rushing over to his blade and grabbing it.

Just as Ichigo grabbed the blade, his Inner Hollow suddenly appeared and attempted to slice him in half with his own blade. Ichigo brought up his blade to block the incoming attack... only to receive a nasty shock when his Inner Hollow sliced his blade in half effortlessly, as if he had sliced through a sheet of paper rather than a giant blade.

"**HA! You're going to have to try harder than that, kin!**" the Hollow said as he kneed a stunned Ichigo in the gut. He followed this up with a spin kick to Ichigo's stomach, which quickly knock the shock out of Ichigo along with the wind in his lungs.

Naruto, who had seen the whole exchange, narrowed his eyes in annoyance at his orange-haired counterpart.

"_You idiot! Did you really think that was your true zanpakuto?! How thick can you be?!_" Naruto thought to himself as his hands again went into a set of hand seals.

"**Wind Release: Vaccum Great Sphere!**"

The shinobi took in a large breath of air before expelling it out. The condensed air then took on the form of a large sphere of wind as it slammed into the Hollow, allowing Ichigo to get some distance in order to find another blade. Naruto smirked to himself before sensing a presence behind him. He quickly leaned back as Hayate appeared, attempting to slash him with his dual tri-blade kunai.

"**You didn't forget about me, did you?**" Hayate ask as he pointed one of his kunais at his partner.

"I didn't," Naruto said as he grinned at Hayate before preparing another jutsu.

"**Water Release: Gunshot!**" he shouted as his hands went into the Tiger seal.

He then proceeded to spit out three basketball sized balls of water. The zanpakuto spirit quickly dodged the first two water balls, and with a quick dual slash of his kunai, dispersed the third one. Naruto responded by taking out a smoke bomb from his kunai pouch and throwing it at the spirit. He was aware that it would not work against someone who uses wind, but it would serve as a brief distraction as he quickly picked up a random pair of kunais. The blades in question were longer than the ones in Hayate's shikai form, approximately five inches long, and were much more thinner.

"_Definitely not my true zanpakuto, but this'll have to do for the moment,_" Naruto thought to himself as he sensed Hayate closing in from behind.

Immediately turning on his heels, the blonde shinobi able to block the incoming blow from Hayate. The two were briefly caught in a deadlock, but the spirit continued to apply more pressure to his kunai. Suddenly, the knives in Naruto's hands broke, and Hayate took this moment to deliver a kick to the blonde's chest.

"**Is that all you've got? If so, then I'll have to finish you now,**" he said as he aimed his right kunai at Naruto, before announcing his attack.

"**Kaze no Yaiba Kyouran (Wind Blade Fury)!**"

A barrage of wind blades suddenly emerged from the kunai and struck Naruto, causing several lacerations as which caused a great deal pain for our blonde hero; parts of his shirt were now torn and the back of his black coat now had a medium-sized tear running along the back.

Naruto suddenly jumped back several yards and ran off, trying to find another blade while his wounds began to heal, during which time Hayate doggedly pursued Naruto. This sequence of events repeated themselves for the next hour. Ichigo, meanwhile, had been doing his best to fight his Hollow which, for the past hour, had also been going rather poorly.

With his previous 5 blades, including the Zangetsu shikai look-alike, having been broken rather easily, he was now wielding a sword that was curved and twisted. The teen was now on the defensive, blocking and parrying each of the Hollow's blows.

The Hollow gave off an eerie chuckle as it delivered a spin kick to Ichigo's head, followed by slashing the side of his abdomen. The Hollow then delivered another kick to Ichigo, sending him flying and crashing into to Naruto, who was faring only slightly better in his fight with Hayate. The two teens slide across the ground before stopping several yards later and standing side-by-side.

"_This fight is already going nowhere. We're going to need to think of a plan and fast,_" Naruto thought to himself after quickly gauging the situation.

Ichigo Hollow, meanwhile, let out another of his unsettling laughs he prepared another attack.

"**TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE!**" the Inner Hollow yelled with eerie amount of glee as reiryoku was gathered on his blade.

"**GETSUGA TENSHO (Moon-Fang Heaven-Piercer)!**" he roared before then released the energy, which took on the form of a crescent. The two teens were able to jump back in time for as the attack hit the ground. A cloud of dust was kicked up before it slowly began to dissipate.

When the cloud finally cleared up minutes later, the only sight greeting Hayate and Hollow Ichigo two teens who were once there were now missing.

"**Huh. I guess they're now hiding and thinking up of a plan. Naruto must've had a Hiraishin seal prepared some distance away 'cause I can't sense his and Ichigo's presence,**" Hayate said as the Hollow stabbed his own sword into the ground.

"**Looks like we're going to have to wait,**" Hollow Ichigo said.

Hayate, naturally taken aback confused at what the Hollow said, raised an eyebrow before addressing him.

"**You're not going after Ichigo? I didn't expect this from you, **" Hayate said, causing Hollow Ichigo to grunt in annoyance before responding

"**Well, it's not like I have to go after Ichigo to kill him. He wants that bankai and he needs to beat me to gain control of his powers, so he's going to have to come to me eventually, all I have to do is wait,**" the Inner Hollow explained only for Hayate to shake his head.

"**That's not what I meant. What meant was that I'd never expect you, of all people, to be so lenient. Come to think of it, you've been unusually reserved, seeing as how you've actually been more respectful towards Ichigo; you haven't even mocked his strength once,**" Hayate pointed out.

The Inner Hollow raised an eyebrow at this before he responded.

"**Well, as much as I hate to admit it, the King actually impressed me back there. Maybe it's all the time he spent training with blondie and his master but, somehow, his instincts have gotten sharper than ever, and he's only grown more powerful because of that. At this point, I'd recognize him as an equal. It's too bad that I'm going to take over his body after this, a real fucking shame. I would've like to have seen where he'd go... what a waste of skill,**" Hollow Ichigo explained.

Hayate let out a sigh at this before talking under his breath.

"**Be careful what you wish for. I have a feeling that Ichigo will be knocking you off that golden pedestal of yours soon enough.**"

_With Naruto and Ichigo..._

The two teens were currently hiding from their opponents a rather secluded hiding spot. They were surrounding by three, very large boulders, and were currently leaning against one of the hideout's walls. Both teens were currently trying to catch their breath. Ichigo was the first to speak as his adrenaline began to die down.

"Thanks for saving my ass back there. (He unknowingly mutters the next part to himself out loud) Why is this fight still going on? My fight should've ended already, and yet… why did my first blade break apart?"

Naruto, having overheard the second part of his friend's statement, grunted in annoyance as he began to berate him.

"You have to be hopelessly thick if you thought it would be that simple," he said.

"What the hell does that suppose to mean?" an annoyed Ichigo snapped back.

"Well, if you put more thought into this fight, you would of known that the first blade you picked wasn't the true form of Zangetsu."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked.

Naruto again sighed in annoyance before beginning his explanation.

"You remember what Zangetsu said when he explained the training method? The true Zangetsu is the manifestation of the power that dwells within you, not the part that takes the form of your zanpakuto. _-I'm guessing that the same thing applies to me since Hayate decided to use the same method-_ The blade that you thought was your true zanpakuto was either the manifestation of the power of your zanpakuto or your reliance on that power, rather than what you're actually supposed to look for," Naruto explained.

Ichigo, finally realizing what Naruto was saying, finished his sentence for him.

"Now I get it… if the blade was the manifestation of the power of my zanpakuto, then the true form of my zanpakuto would be the exact opposite; it would be the blade that looked the least like Zangetsu, at least compared to all the others."

Naruto gave a nod in confirmation before speaking.

"About time you finally got it. Regardless of that, though, we won't be able to find our true zanpakutos even with that clue with the way this fight has been going."

"Yeah, no shit. So do you have a plan?" Ichigo asked as Naruto replied.

"I do. Since you don't have many skills at your disposal, you'll have to find your zanpakuto. I'll hold off both Hayate and your Inner Hollow so you can find your blade, but I have to warn you that I'll only be able to do so for five minutes, so you'll have to find your zanpakuto in that time limit. I'll have a shadow clone go and find mine. Once we find both of ours, we'll go and double team the Hollow while my clone holds off Hayate. When it disperses, I'll go and fight Hayate while you finish your battle," Naruto explained.

Ichigo slammed his fist on the ground, clearly in disapproval, before he then voice his thoughts.

"Are you out you're fucking mind, Naruto?! If five minutes is all that you can spare, then this plan will never work. I guarantee my Hollow will tear you to shreds once those five minutes are up!"

"Well, unless you have any ideas, this is the best plan that I can come up with. I only have one ability that will allow me to fight both Hayate and the Hollow simultaneously, but because of certain issues, I can't use it more than five minutes at a time," Naruto pointed out.

At this point, a certain Tailed Beast decided to voice his opinion.

"_**Unfortunately for you, your friend is right. You're plan will fail if that's all the time you can spare, to say nothing of the fact that you'd be killed in a few minutes at best.**_"

Naruto then shifted gears as he mentally communicated with Kurama.

"_If I was able to use it for more than five minutes, then I would, but I can't merge with Grandpa Sage. So it's out of the question… unless, of course you'd be willing to allow it,_" Naruto replied.

The Tailed Beast's eyes widened as he realized that his host had planned to have this conversation happen. A small grin appeared on his face before he replied.

"**_Well, well, it seems that the little brat I knew has become more cunning than I thought, to have come up with this plan. Well, in any case, the only other option that I have is to let you get cut to pieces by some pale psychopath, so I'll allow it from now on. You better not screw this up, or I'll come back to the afterlife once I'm revived and haunt you,_**" Kurama said.

"_Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you? Prepared to have your heart broken, Kurama,_" Naruto thought as he turned and addressed Ichigo.

"It looks like we lucked out."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll have to explain it later, but in layman's terms, it looks like I'll be able to give them a lot more than five minutes. Listen up, because I'm only going to explain this once. The moment I'm ready to do my part of the plan, you go and look for your true zanpakuto. And try to stay as far away from the fight as possible until you find it. Do you understand?"

Ichigo replied with a nod as Naruto raised his right hand up to his mouth. He then bit down on his thumb, breaking his skin and letting blood cover his open palm and fingers. Ichigo expression turned to one of confusion, as one thought went through his head.

"_Why did he have to do something so painful? What's he planning?_" he thought.

"_Well, here goes nothing,_" Naruto thought to himself as he slammed his hand on the ground before announcing his technique.

"**Summoning Jutsu!**"

_Several Minutes Later…_

While the two teenagers were commencing their plan, the spirit and the Hollow were currently walking to where Naruto and Ichigo were apparently hiding. The two had decided to go after them after they sensed one of them absorbing an alarming amount of reishi at an alarming rate.

"**I wonder what the King and Foxface are up to?**" the Hollow wondered out loud as Hayate responded to him, his voice taking on a joking tone.

"**They probably took advantage of your stupidity and spent their time trying to find their true zanpakutos.**"

"**Last time I checked, you didn't go after them for several minutes, so don't act like you didn't have a thumb up your ass. Besides, you said that they didn't go look for their true zanpkutos yet so it's not like it matters.**"

Before Hayate could offer a retort, the two of them felt the reishi absorption suddenly stop.

"**Huh, it looks like they're about to make their move,**" Hayate said just he and the Hollow then noticed something moving.

It was Ichigo, and what appeared to be Naruto, in torn clothing. The two had just left the hiding spot they had been using as a temporary hideout, and suddenly did something unexpected. Both of them increased their speed and started to run away. The Hollow let a massive, psychotic grin stretch across his face as he gave chase.

"**I'VE GOT YOU NOW!**" he shouted as he chased after the orange-hair teen.

Hayate almost instantly realized what was going on and shouted at the Hollow.

"**Don't go after him, you fool! It's a-**"

He was then interrupted from his warning when he and the Hollow were suddenly buffeted by strong winds that came out of nowhere. The Hollow was force to suddenly stop in his tracks as he wondered to himself:

"**W-WHERE IS THIS WIND COMING FROM?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!**"

And then, a familiar voice shouted out something.

"**Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!**"

Hayate's eyes widened in shock at the mention of the technique's name, as he didn't expect that to be used. He suddenly regained his focus and yelled at the Hollow.

"**Get out of there, now!**"

An instant after those words left Hayate's mouth, an unknown object suddenly materialized out of nowhere, flying at insanely high speeds, homing in on where Hollow Ichigo was. Relying on his sheer instincts, the Inner Hollow jumped out of the way, barely dodging the object. Both he and Hayate were able to catch a glimpse of it.

It appeared to be a rather large, white sphere, surrounded by four blades that seemed to be made of wind, constantly spinning at high speeds. The jutsu hurtled pass the Hollow and crashed into a nearby cluster of rocks. An extremely large gale of wind burst from the impact of the jutsu. Several rocks were picked up by the gale and a few trees were uprooted. As the jutsu died down, it was revealed that the cluster of rocks had now been reduced to nothing but a pile of gravel.

Hayate and the Hollow looked on at the devastation and destruction caused by the attack. The Hollow let out a low whistle, impressed by the damage that was made. He turned to Hayate and spoke to him.

"**W****hat the fucking hell was that, Hayate?**"

"**That was the Rasenshuriken. It's basically what you get when you apply Wind Release chakra to the Rasengan, which is supposed to infused with a person's chakra nature. It creates thousands of microscopic sized wind blades that destroys you down to the celluar level. It's the true form of the Rasengan, as intended by it's original creator, the Yondaime Hokage, Naruto's father. So far, Naruto has been the only one to complete the Rasengan, though using it is very difficult. If he used the Rasenshuriken, then it also means he must'****ve used _that_ ability.**"

Hayate was soon interrupted he and Hollow Ichigo sensed a presence. The two zanpakuto spirits turned to the direction of said presence and were greeted with the sight of a figure appearing before them, standing atop of a boulder near the place where the two teens had been hiding.

* * *

OST:

"Heavy Violence" (From Naruto)(Link: www. youtube / watch?v=MR6pUblQgsA)

(don't forget to backspace the open spaces)

* * *

The figure was Naruto, whose appearance had changed a bit, the most notable change being his eyes. His irises were now a golden yellow color and his pupils were now rectangular shaped. Completing this image was orange pigmentation that surrounded his eyes. He now wore what appeared to be a collarless variant of his black with red flames coat. On his right shoulder was a green toad with tuft of hair on his head, thick eyebrows, and a small goatee, all colored white. The toad wore what appeared to be a tan cloak.

"So these are your opponents, Naruto-chan?" the toad said as Naruto replied with a nod.

"_**What the hell happened to him?**_" the Hollow thought to himself. Hayate's thoughts, on the other hand, were focused on another aspect of Naruto.

"_**So Kurama has decided to cooperate? I didn't expect this at all; this might make things more interesting.**_"

Naruto quickly leaped down from his position on the boulder and formed a Rasengan in his hand. Both of the spirits quckly jumped back as Naruto slammed the orb of chakra down into the ground. The Hollow's face twisted into a smirk as he addressed the Shinobi.

"**Nice ability you got there. Unfortunately, I have to go and carve up the king, so I'll have to deal with you later.**"

The Hollow eyed Ichigo trying to find his true zanpakuto among the field of blades a great distance away. He raced off towards him, pulling his blade back for an attack. However, Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him. The boy's fist flew forward, missing the Hollow's head by an inch. However, the Hollow suddenly felt a force impact on his face. He was sent flying back by this and crashed into some rocks. Naruto then turned his attention to Hayate, who slashed both of his kunais down in the shape of an "x".

The shinobi jumped back and his hands went into a series of seals before announcing his attack.

"**Wind Release: Wind Cutter!**"

He then thrusted his hands forward, and several blades of wind were released from his hands. Hayate swiftly dodged them all by jumping from side to side in a zig-zag pattern. He then jumped forward, thrusting one of the kunais at Naruto. The boy dodged to the side, and then delivered a roundhouse kick to the spirit. The force of the kick sent him flying but the spirit dug his heels into the ground, gathering traction and slowing himself down. Naruto charged at the spirit, and started to deliver a series of rapid punches and kicks. Hayate attempted to dodge them, but he was hit several times by some sort of invisible force.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a presence looming behind him. He quickly jumped into the air, narrowly dodging Inner Hollow's downward chop with his massive blade. Naruto jumped forward, creating a Rasengan in his hand and slamming it into the Hollow's back. He was sent flying by the impact and crashed into a recently recovered Hayate. Both of them got up as Naruto prepared another jutsu.

"**Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!**"

Water then spewed out of the shinobi's mouth, quickly forming into the shape of a massive Chinese dragon. Hayate responded by jumping out of the way while the Hollow used the flat side of his sword as a makeshift shield, attempting to block the water dragon. He dug his heels into the ground, reinforcing his stance as water rushed past his defense. As soon as the water stopped, he lifted his blade and prepared to go on the offensive again. However, he was meet with a charging Naruto, who delivered a swift punch to the gut. The boy followed this up with a spin kick to the face. Hayate, meanwhile, aimed his left Kunai at Naruto as he announced his attack.

"**Tatsumaki (Tornado)!**"

A cyclone spinning at high speeds was then released from the blade. Naruto quickly turned and prepared his own jutsu to counteract the cyclone.

"**Wind Release: Vaccuum Great Sphere!**"

Naruto inhaled and then exhaled a large, condensed ball of wind chakra. Both attacks collided with each other and immediately dispersed in a powerful blast of wind, canceling each other out.

Hayate then aimed his right kunai at his partner while Naruto prepared another jutsu.

"**Kaze no Yaiba Kyouran (Wind Blade Fury)!**"

"**Wind Release: Vaccuum Sphere!**"

Hayate sent out several blades of wind while Naruto spat out several small wind spheres of chakra in rapid succession. The two wind projectiles collided with each other and canceled each other out. The two then charged at each other, with Hayate thrusting a kunai forward and Naruto rearing his fist back. Both of their blows connected, with Hayate getting punched in the face and Naruto getting stabbed in the shoulder.

Both of them backed away, and Naruto grimaced as he felt pain shot through his body. The boy then felt a presence behind him. Thinking quickly, he pulled out a pair of hiraishin kunai from his pouch, and used it to block the attack aimed at him. It was revealed to be the Hollow, attempting to cut him vertically. He gritted his teeth and glared at Naruto, being truly annoyed with the boy.

"**I don't know what you did to yourself or what this damned power is, but you're going pay for those shots you got in just the same,**" Hollow Ichigo hissed.

"Not gonna happen, you pale reject," Naruto taunted before pushing him back.

The shinobi quickly jumped back and threw his two kunai at the hollow. He then looked at the toad on his shoulder and addressed him.

"Are you ready, Grandpa Sage?"

"I am, Naruto-chan."

"Good," the blonde said as both of them had their hands go through a series of handsigns before announcing their technique.

"**Wind Release: Toad Gun!**"

The toad spat out a high pressure stream of water while Naruto spat out a stream of wind. The two combined into a jet of rushing water that hit the two opponents. Naruto smirked as he ended the technique.

"Hate to disappoint you, but I'm not the one to be defeated so easily. I hope you're ready... because I'm just getting warmed up," he declared before getting into his fighting stance.

* * *

OST Scene Ends

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

As Naruto and the two spirits were clashing, Ichigo was currently in a clearing filled with different versions of his Zangetsu blade, searching for his true zanpakuto.

As he did this, the orange-haired teenager has several things on his mind.

"_I never thought Naruto had an ability like that. Makes you wonder what the people are like from where he comes from and what they can do,_" the teen said as he mused to himself. He quickly shook these thoughts out of his head.

"_Dammit, this isn't the time for that. I can't let my mind wander off like that. I have to find my zanpakuto, and fast._"

Ichigo knew that Naruto didn't have that time limit concern, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to hold off the two spirits forever. He kept looking around as he ran, trying to spot a sword that looked the least like Zangetsu. However, he began to think about what a blade like that would of looked like... and realized he didn't have an idea of what he was trying to find.

He grunted to himself in frustration.

"Dammit, how the hell am I supposed to figure out which one looks the least like Zangetsu? Where do I even begin to look for it?"

He continued to scan the area as he moved around. He kept looking over the swords, looking for one that stuck out like a sore thumb among the copies. Even after a half-hour, however, his search was seemingly going no where fast.

Ichigo let out a low growl as he rested a palm on his forehead.

"Dammit, where is it?! I can't be stuck looking for this damned blade forever!"

Ichigo, in his frustration, dropped his head as if to let out some steam... only to stop when his eyes caught a glimpse of something and widened in surprise at what he saw.

Ichigo then looked down and widened his eyes at what he saw. It appeared to be a metal tang sticking out of the ground that was wrapped up in a strip of cloth. The teen simply blinked at the sight of this.

"Why the hell is this blade stuck so deep into the ground?" he muttered to himself. However, he then realized something as he approached the blade.

"_Please tell me that this isn't a joke,_" he thought to himself as he grabbed the tang and yanked it out of the ground with surprising ease.

Ichigo's face turned into confusion as he looked at the sword he withdrew. To put it simply, his sword had no blade. All there was to it was the tang that he used for the hilt.

Suddenly, a massive amount of energy suddenly burst from the tang, causing Ichigo to drop it in surprise. The blast soon subsided, and Ichigo took another look at the blade. His eyes widened in surprise by what he saw. The blade now took the form of what appeared to be the outline of a daitō sword made out of black reiryoku with a blue outline; even the tang was now gone, being replaced with the outline of a more proper hilt (with a small chain like extension attached to the handle) made of the same reiryoku as the sword.

Ichigo let a smirk grow on his face as he stared at the blade.

"Found you," he said as began to pick is up while thinking to himself.

"_I should've known; of course the opposite of that other blade would be no blade at all. It's just my own power; nothing more and nothing less..._"

Ichigo grabbed the blade at which another point unexpected thing happened when he energy from the sword spread out and formed around Ichigo, replacing his attire. In place of his usual shinigami garb, he now the form of a form-fitting black longcoat with a blue outline that was seemingly made of the same energy as the blade., all the while it flickered like it was made of fire.

After noting the change, Ichigo then turned and faced the direction where the fight between Naruto and the two spirits were taking place. He then spoke to himself as he slowly walked forward.

"I'll show you who's in charge of my soul… it's time to end this!"

With that, Ichigo's walking turned into a full dash as he rushed off towards the battle.

_With Naruto..._

"**GETSUGA TENSHO!**" Hollow Ichigo roared before launching another large crescent-shaped wave of reiatsu at our favorite blonde-haired ninja.

Before the Getsuga could connect, though, Naruto was able to deflect the attack with a strong gust of wind, causing the attack to veer far to his right.

"**Che! You know you can't keep up this up forever, you damned idiot, so either attack me already or throw that thing away and then attack me,**" Hollow Ichigo

Naruto then returned to his current fighting stance, which was simply Naruto in a crouching position, with his right foot positioned farther back than his left. In addition, his hands grasped an object which he held in a upright position, his left hand grasping that object where it was leveled with his thighs while his right hand grasped that object where it was leveled with his head.

As unpolished as this stance was, due to how rigid Naruto appeared in said position and the number of openings it left, it allowed Naruto, for the time being, to adjust his fighting style in order to compensate for his true zanpakuto which his clone managed to find ten minutes earlier... or at least that's what Hollow Ichigo assumed since he couldn't actually see the weapon itself.

Naruto was seemingly grasping an invisible weapon with both his hands, the only evidence confirming the existence of the weapon being the gusts of wind and wisps of flames, of all things, that seem to emanate from the weapon; Naruto's true zanpakuto didn't hint towards what his bankai would look like at this point, at least compared to Ichigo's true zanpakuto.

Hollow Ichigo was not the only one confused by the nature of Naruto's true zanpakuto; Naruto himself was equally as confused as his lone opponent (Naruto sent another clone to hold off Hayate five minutes prior to receiving his true zanpakuto). When Naruto first received the weapon from his clone, it simply took the form of his shikai's twin kunai if the kunais were made of wind and, strangely enough, fire. The moment Naruto's hands grasped the weapons, however, the twin kunais suddenly changed into the invisible staff that he now wields. Naruto had a hell of time learning to use this weapon, relying sheer instinct for much of the fight, which has led to the current stalemate between Naruto and Ichigo's Inner Hollow; this was due, in large part, to Naruto going on the defensive to stall for time so he could adjust his fighting style a bit further.

Now, with that provocation which was one of many the Inner Hollow had been throwing for the past ten minutes, Naruto had lost his patience and finally decided to oblige the spirit. As Naruto readied his weapon for an attack, the old toad that had merged with Naruto spoke.

"Are you ok, Naruto-chan? It seems like you still haven't gotten used to using this zanpakuto of yours yet," the toad asked.

"That's because I haven't, Geezer Sage. It'd be easier if I can see my damn zanpakuto, but I guess that will have to wait until I beat Hayate. First, though, I think it's time we finally shut this bastard up already," Naruto answered, with the toad nodding in response.

The blonde ninja then adjusted the position of his weapon by shifting the bottom end of his weapon so it pointed away from Naruto but was still facing downwards, meaning Naruto now held the weapon in a forward diagonal position, as he prepared to go on the attack. Hollow Ichigo took notice and, excitement and adrenaline following through his veins (of whatever his body had that could be considered veins), braced himself for the coming attack.

As it turned out, he had readied himself for the wrong attack.

Right as Naruto was about to spring his assault, Hollow Ichigo was suddenly slammed by what looked like a black version of the **Getsuga Tensho **that came from his left. The attack caught Hollow Ichigo flat-footed and instantly sent him flying away.

Both Naruto and the toad were surprised by the attacked, especially since they hadn't even detected the attack even though Naruto was still using his Sage Mode.

"Seems we were too focused on your weapon and this fight to have not seen that coming. We'll need to be more mindful of our surroundings, Naruto-chan," the old toad said, with Naruto nodding in agreement just as a familiar face with orange hair appeared in front of them.

"Took you long enough, Strawberry," Naruto chided, causing a giant vein pop out of the forehead of the now named (or nicknamed, to be more precise) Ichigo.

"Oh, screw you, Fishcake! You think finding my true zanpakuto was a cake-walk?! Not every can create clones to do the work for them!" Ichigo fumed before taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Anyways, how are you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Won't be able to see what my bankai might look like until I get it. So you ready to finish this fight?" Naruto asked back.

"Yeah... about that, Naruto. I want to finish this fight myself. I know we planned to fight my Inner Hollow together... it's just something I have to do," Ichigo requested or, more accurately, demanded as the tone in his voice and the resolute gaze in his eyes made it clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Naruto sighed at this just as he and Ichigo caught a glimpse of Hollow Ichigo rising from the ground, the spirit having been knocked unconscious for a short while despite suffering only minor damage from Ichigo's attack.

"I figured you'd say something like that... if I were you, I'd say the same thing, so I guess I can't say no to that. _-And since this is his own inner darkness, it really should be his victory if he wants to end this fight-_ (a brief pause) I just have one thing I want to say before I go," Naruto said.

"And what would that be?" Ichigo asked, to which Naruto let a small smirk form onto his face before he replied.

"Give the pale reject hell."

In response, Ichigo let a smirk form on his face.

"You don't have to tell me twice. Now go, you have your battle to win," he said, with Naruto nodding in response before sprinting off towards Hayate's location.

With that out of the way, Ichigo then turned to face his approaching Inner Hollow, who's attire and weapon now looked the same as Ichigo's except it was made of a white reiryoku with a blackish-red outline. Hollow Ichigo stopped walking shortly after, with he and Ichigo separated by about 100 yards. Despite the slugfest he had with Naruto and the surprised attack courtesy of Ichigo himself, Hollow Ichigo was still far from beaten and was clearly rearing for this ultimate showdown if his larger-than-normal psycho grin was a sign of anything.

"**Well, well, Ichigo, it seems you finally found your actual zanpakuto. I didn't think you'd be able to even with the help of ****Foxface; I guess you're both full of surprises. So... are you ready to finish this?**" Hollow Ichigo asked.

Ichigo's answer came in the form a full frontal attack his black ethereal blade coming down in a vertical chop which Hollow Ichigo was barely able to block with his own white blade.

The battle for Ichigo's bankai and soul had reached its finale and yet, once all is said and done, this was only one of a series of events that Ichigo and everyone would never see coming... for the greatest trials have yet to come...

Next Time - Road to Escape, Part 2: Scores to Settle


End file.
